Breaking Fate
by NamThunder
Summary: When one was put on a path against their views and morals, they would deny it and try to break from such path. That was what the eight chosen l'Cie (2 OCs) were willing to do. Join them as they attempted to defy the fate given to them by the fal'Cie.
1. DERAILED

**Truth be told, I couldn't resist posting this. I finally had a chance to play Final Fantasy XIII, and with a story in mind, I just have to do it.**

**Anyway, enjoy the story**

* * *

Prologue - DERAILED

Cade leaned against his seat. He could feel the atmosphere of depression within the compartment of the train. None of them want to get on this ride, but they had no choice.

A few days ago, he came to Bodhum looking from someone, but his search came to a halt due to the Purge. PSICOM found a presence of Pulse in the Bodhum Vestige. They then began rounding up people and put them on the Purge train in the preparation to ship them off to Pulse. He could remember a few who tried to make a break for it, but was then gunned down before they could leave the station.

Since PSICOM rounded up the entire city, it would be likely that the ones he was looking for were on this train too. Thus, he got in, hoping to find them once the train stopped at their destination.

Still, he found it hard to believe that they will be sent to Pulse. Not after how they just shot some civilians to death just for running away.

Cade looked to the right. A guard was walking down the train, the gun in hand armed with safety off and laser sight on. Said guard's finger was on the trigger, preparing to shoot at the first sign of escape or struggle.

"You serious?" Cade heard a man just two seat away from him whispered.

"Be quiet" The woman to the left of the man shushed him.

The man smirked with a chuckle. "Best of luck"

Suddenly, the train shook violently. Everyone on the train cried out in surprised. The guard lost his balance in the shaking. The woman then took the opportunity to rush out and wrapped her cuffed arms around the guard. She flipped over, knocking the guard out. A remote was dropped on to the floor, which was soon crushed under the woman's heel. All the cuffs detached, separating the robe's sleeves, freeing all of the passenger's arms.

"She did it!" Said the man.

The door of the next compartment opened. Two more PSICOM guards rushed in and opened fire on the standing woman. She flipped herself over, getting her robe off in the process before kicking the guards. Cade couldn't catch what she looked like. The only glimpsed he got was the pink hair

Said woman then proceeded to fight the rest of the guards. Meanwhile, the man from earlier removed the robe, revealing a tall black man with afro hair in his 40s. He wore an olive pilot coat over a white button-up shirt, a pair of fingerless gloves, and a pair of khaki pants with black boots. On his thighs were two handgun holsters. It was normal since all airship pilots are equipped with firearms in the unlikely event of being stranded in the wild. His name was Sazh Katzroy

This man then knelt down in front of a kid, who was curling in a corner, and asked him if he was all right. "I'm not a l'Cie" as the man reassured the kid, his hair ruffled. A small Chocobo chick then popped out and chirped. It gave the kid a smile.

Cade didn't hesitate to join the escape attempt. He discarded the robe. His hair was grey and messy. His beard was lightly shaved. His outfit consisted of a green camo vest over dark green shirt, brown slack pants, and a pair of black sandals. Hanging around his neck was a necklace decorated with fangs. Bandages wrapped around two of his palms.

Sazh began leading the rest of the passengers to the weapon lockers. He took two handguns, the Vega 42's. and two rocket launchers before moving up to join the woman who had charged ahead of them. Cade followed the man, and checked for his confiscated items. He then found what he was looking for. It was a two-handed scythe, with the blade serrated with saw-like teeth. Dirty bandages wrapped on each end of the scythe indicated where the hands usually touched when it was in use.

"My Blood Harvester scythe. Glad they didn't just throw this away" Cade sighed in relief before going after the black man.

The two, with a few passengers, ran up to the front carriage. The woman was there, armed with a gunblade, signature weapon that was exclusive to the higher up of Sanctum forces.

"So far so good" Sazh said. "They all want to fight" he told the woman.

The pink hair woman didn't turned around. Her cold eyes kept looking forward, as if she wasn't listening. "Good for them" she dismissed.

Cade looked at the pink hair women head to toe. She was young, twenty years old at estimate, he guessed. Red cape covered her left back side. She was wearing her Guardian Corps uniform, easily identified by the emblem on her shoulder guard. Unlike other Guardian Corps however, she was wearing a white leather vest over a sleeveless brown turtleneck. On her left arm was a black sleeve. She also wore blue fingerless gloves. Her lower body apparel included a short brown skirt and a leg pouch strapped to her left leg. Her boots were tall, almost reaching her knees. An empty sheath hung behind her at waist level. This was Lightning Farron.

To Cade, for some reason, this woman looked a bit familiar.

Cade decided to look outside, and found out his guess was correct. They arrived at the Hanging Edge, one of the areas damaged by Pulse during the War of Transgression. And right now, this place was a warzone. PSICOM was not shipping anyone to Pulse. They were killing escapees left and right. No mercy was given, judging from the shooting and the presences of massive mechanical beasts on the field.

Lightning was looking outside as well. Flying bioweapons were closing in. Their mouths were filled with sparking electricity. Her hand then went for the rocket launcher Sazh had. "Give me that!" she said before taking aim, and shot a rocket out as it locked on the target. The rocket hit the first one, but when she used the second rocket launcher, this one missed its mark. The creature then unleashed a barrage of electricity upon the back half of the train, sending it off the rail on to the platform below.

Nevertheless, the front half kept going, but the moment of respite was yet to come as a massive scorpion-shaped mech flew down and landed on the train. The impact caused the train to halt. Its tail then smacked into the compartment, creating a hole.

"Run!" said Sazh who was recovering from the impact.

Unfortunately for him, Lightning had a different idea. She jumped out of the hole. Cade soon followed her, seeing no other place to go.

"I meant away!" the pilot called out to them.

Cade and Lightning turned toward the massive Manasvin Warmech. Once Sazh climbed out of the hole, the machine began to roar. They both drew out their weapons, with the pilot falling down on his back. "Hey, hey! Let's be rational now!" he tried to negotiate.

"I don't think they're going to agree, mate" Cade replied, assuming combat stance.

The Warmech then swung the electrified buzzsaws arm at them. Lightning and Cade leaped back, while Sazh scuttled away on his butt before standing up just behind them with his pistols out in his two hands.

"They're sending in the big guns now! What do we do!?" he asked.

"Watch and learn" was the only answer he got from the pink hair soldier, who then charged at the mech with her gunblade, the Blazefire Saber. Cade followed up behind her, preparing to swing his scythe. Sazh opened fire on the mech as the former two began slicing and dicing against the mech while dodging its saws. However, their attacks seemed to only scratched its paint and irritating it.

After a while, the Manasvin Warmech moved back on its thrusters. It grabbed the side of the carriage, causing it to shake.

"Fall back!" Lightning ordered, and the three moved away from the mech.

Sazh turned around and taunted at the machine. "Not so tough now, huh?!"

The warmech seemed to be listening. Its thrusters boosted up brightly blue, and the carriage was being lifted off the rail.

"Why did you have to say that?" Cade commented.

"Hey, that wasn't like a challenge now!" the pilot said to the mech, holding his hands out like trying to calm the predator. "All right? Hey!"

It didn't work. The incline was growing. The mech was attempting to throw them off the train with the carriage. Knowing better than to stand there, the three turned tail and ran to the head of the train.

"Time to go!" Sazh said, running for his life down the incline.

Cade and Lightning jumped off and landed on the next carriage. She slid down the rail and landed on the other one which wasn't disturbed with a flip. Cade made a leap from the top of the incline, and then rolled upon landing to absorb the impact. Sazh, however, was still running down the lifting carriage. Out of the three, he was the least athletic due to his age.

"I'm coming!" he spoke, going as fast as he could.

"Jump!" The soldier shouted.

The man complied to her order, jumping off the carriage as it was set down into the water below. He landed on his hands and knees, while his Chocobo managed to make a graceful landing.

"Heads up!" Lightning said, watching as the mech turned attention towards them again.

"This thing… won't give up!" the pilot groaned once he recovered from the fall.

The Warmech flew up and landed on the other end of the carriage. There was nowhere else to run. Their only choice was to take it down.

Thus, they fought once again. Metal met metal. Sparks shot out from each impact dealt onto the mech. After what felt like an hour, the Manasvin Warmech short-circuited from the damages it took, and finally collapsed, falling off the carriage and into the water below.

The pilot fell onto his back, sitting down as Cade and Lightning looked down to where the mech fell. "Yeah" he said, catching his breath. "We did it"

"That we did" Cade agreed, folding his scythe before strapping it onto his back.

The sound of aircrafts soon roared over them. While the two males looked at them, the woman then folded the gunblade and put in into her sheath. She then walked away from the rest, as if they were never there.

"Aren't you suppose to take care of civilians, soldier?" Sazh questioned, causing the woman to stop. He got up to his feet. "I mean, what are you doing, trying to do to stop the Purge? Why don't you tell me that?"

"I _was _a soldier" Lightning implied before she hopped off the train.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" The pilot called after her, but she had already hopped down.

Cade shook his head. "That woman got one hell of an agenda" he said before turning to Sazh. "Hey old man, what's your name?"

"Sazh Katzroy, and I'm not old, I'm only forty." Sazh told him "And you?"

"Call me Cade." Cade answered. "Come on, old man. Let's get going before more of the show up" He then jumped off the train to catch up with Lightning.

Sazh sighed. His Chocobo then flew out of its 'bird nest' and landed on his palm. "Man" he said "Chocobo, we can't just catch a break can we?" The bird chirped back at him, and he smiled. "That's a good question" He then let the chick fly before climbing down. As he descended, the chick got back into his hair like it always did ever since he bought it. "Guess we'd better follow them. I'm getting too old for this"

Cade, meanwhile, was closing in on Lightning. In his head, he kept thinking of two people he knew well. He got separated with them, and had no idea of their whereabouts until two days ago. Hopefully, they were all here, caught along with the Purge.

However, he can't just run around, looking for them. This place was crawling with PSICOM troops, and they were shooting to kill. Combined with the fact that this place consisted of many roads and walkways suspended in the air as bridges, it would be difficult just to go around this place unless you have a way to fly around.

For now, it would be best if he just go with Sazh and Lightning. He knew the two he was looking for can handle themselves. They will be fine, he hoped.

"Fang… Vanille…" he murmured. "I hope you guys are okay…"


	2. WARZONE

Chapter 1 - WARZONE

Cade and Sazh soon managed to catch up with the impatient and determined Lightning, who had ceased to stop and wait at all for them. She ran towards a small patrol of PSICOM soldiers the moment both of them landed on the ground.

"Fixing to ditch us already, are you?" Sazh said "Are you sure we can get through here?"

The former soldier said nothing. Her face remained stoic just like back on the train. She drew out her gunblade and attacked the soldiers. Despite of them being well-armed, they fell pretty easy the moment they touched her blades.

While Sazh was awed by the former GC's skill, Cade smirked. She was as good as Fang in a fight. He wondered who would win if they fight.

Speaking of skills, Cade's eyes fell onto his shoulder. On his left shoulder blade, hidden under his shirt was his Pulse l'Cie brand. If he used magic out here, it would raise suspicion. And if they find out, he could kiss his chance to meet up with Fang and Vanille goodbye. Best to stick with his scythe for now.

The three proceeded down the road. Lightning took point with Cade following behind and Sazh watched the rear. They fought squads after squads of PSICOM, and they fell down very easily despite of being Sanctum's private army.

Cade chuckled. Those guys at Euride Gorge plant were much more of a challenge than these ones.

The group stopped just behind a rubble. In front of them was a single PSICOM soldier, who was standing near a portal. Said soldier seemed to be doing something with a device on his wrist.

"Not wanting to get purged I get it, but taking on trained soldiers?" Sazh asked.

"Better to die than get sent to Pulse. It's hell without a brimstone" the former GC replied.

Cade didn't comment. He was well reserved when it came to Cocoonians insulting his homeworld.

"Yeah well hell's not sounding too bad caused this place ain't exactly paradise." Sazh said, looking at the chaos around them.

Suddenly, the portal flashed, forming two feline-shaped creatures. "Bioweapons" Cade muttered, recognizing them as Pantherons.

"Domesticated peacekeepers" Lightning reassured, although her voice lacked the caring tune. "Nothing to worry about"

"Maybe not for a soldier girl but - hey!" Before Sazh could finish, Cade and Lightning had already ran forward to engage the enemy. It was an easy fight, regardless. Pantherons were more of a scout than a fighter. They fell much easier than the PSICOM soldiers.

After a while, they came to a bridge. However, an airship suddenly descended down in flame, crashing into it. The bridge soon collapsed just before the group, sending any who were unfortunate to be in the wrong place at the wrong time down into the water below. Out of all three, only Sazh was knocked down by the blast.

"Well, now what?" Cade asked.

"Do we turned back?" Sazh mentioned. The gap between their side and the other was far too long.

"There's no time" Lightning said. She walked up to the edge of the now destroyed bridge.

"So what do we do?" Sazh asked.

"Quiet" Lightning shushed him. She then flicked her finger, activating her AMP switch that would allow her to jump across easily. Her body was enveloped in some kind of barrier, and began floating.

Realizing that she was about to leave them here, Sazh ran up and held onto her, trying to pull her down. "Hey wait! No no! Don't leave me!"

"Let go!" The former soldier shouted, trying to break free from Sazh's hold.

"Hell no! You are my only way out of here!" the pilot cried, still refusing to let go. Now the pilot and the pink hair woman were fighting each other.

Cade watched the scene with a smile. Even in a warzone, there was always an entertainment around the corner.

The fight came to an end with Lightning kicking Sazh before punching him to the ground. However, the damage was done. She snapped her fingers multiple times, but the barrier didn't form. She gritted her teeth, thinking about beating the pilot into pulp for breaking her AMP and stopping her from getting across.

"Hey" Sazh spoke out as he stood up "That might get us across." He was pointing at a air bridge that was coming towards them. "Right?"

"Looks that way" Lightning replied, still angry with what he did.

The group ran toward the edge of the road and jumped onto the air bridge. However, they weren't alone, as they spotted a squad of PSICOM soldiers. However, one stood out from the grunts, dressed into a Marauder uniform.

"This is not our lucky day" Sazh said.

"Clearly not since we got on the train" Cade added.

"Deportees, are we?" said the Marauder in a taunting manner "Weapons down. I don't want things to turn ugly"

"Uh… 'turn ugly'?" Sazh was confused. What was this guy talking about?

"And you expect us to surrender without a fight?" Cade shot back "You guys had been killing us left and right"

"He wants to kill us without a fight" Lightning spelled it out. Her hand was already on her gunblade.

"Time's up!" The Marauder declared, starting the fight. Lightning fought him while Sazh and Cade dealt with his enforcers. Once they were dealt with, they turned attention back to the Marauder. Even with Cade and Lightning's attacks, this Marauder managed to put them on defensive for the most of the fight. In the end, Sazh was the one finishing it with a bullet from his gun.

With the bridge clear, they walked up to a terminal. Sazh stood just in front of it before breaking the silence. "So, Cade... What's your angle?"

Cade folded his arms. "I'm looking for someone. Someone who got caught in the Purge" he answered. However, from the look of it, he won't be meeting the other Purge survivors any time soon.

"Right… and you, soldier…?" Sazh now asked Lightning. He called her that because he had yet to know her name.

Silence was the answer.

"What, is it some classified military info? You quit, didn't you? You think I'm just gonna go out there and tell everybody your secret - ?"

"The Pulse fal'Cie"

Cade's grip on his arms suddenly tightened. This woman was coming after the Pulse fal'Cie within the Bodhum Vestige. The Vestige that he, Fang, and Vanille woke up in.

"What?" Sazh asked, surprised by the given answer.

"My 'angle'" Lightning explained. "I'm after a Pulse fal'Cie" She walked toward the terminal and activated the bridge, causing it to move. "Still happy you tagged along?" She then walked toward the edge of the bridge, watching the war unfold.

Sazh looked down to himself. His face expressed sombre. In his mind, he recalled the reason why he 'tagged along' with them. "Didn't have a choice" he murmured.

* * *

At the Resistance Front, it was a massacre. PSICOM troops were gunning down all Purge survivors, both armed and unarmed. They were following orders given by Sanctum to eradicate every single Purge deportees. The former Bodhum civilians, meanwhile, were fighting for their lives and freedom, not wanting to go to Pulse or to die. Under the leadership of a group called No Obligations, Rules, or Authority, NORA for short, they stood strong and held fast against PSICOM troops and their bioweapons.

So far the battle was a stalemate. Echoes of gunfire, shells trickling on the ground, and dead people flooded the air of the battlefield. This was followed by an announcement from the primarch of the Sanctum Galenth Dysley.

"_On behalf of Cocoon's citizen, I would like to thank our brave Pulse pioneers and express our best wishes for a successful relocation. Your noble and selfless sacrifice ensures the continued safety and peace of our society. Were it not for this remarkable gesture, every resident of Cocoon - your family, your friends, your neighbors - would be exposed to the dangers of the world below. By choosing to leave Cocoon, and participating in this migration -"_

Snow Villiers had heard enough. The NORA leader stomped his foot on the speaker, crushing it and shutting it up for good. He was a tall blond man with five o'clock shadow. His hair were mostly hidden by his black bandana. He wore a black t-shirt under a blue zip-down and cream-colored trench coat with grime, black pants and a pair of boots. He also wore a pair of biker gloves. Blue scarf hung from the belt of his pants. Hanging from his neck was two pendants. Strapped to his left arm was an AMP that enhanced his physical strength, which would allow him to punch metal like punching flesh. His AMP was called the Wild Bear.

"'Migration'? More like 'extermination'" Snow turned to his right, looking at the speaker of the quote. It came from a teen with blue hair, wearing the latest fashion from Eden. He was holding a loaded submachine gun in his hand.

"Yuj, you stay here" Snow addressed the teen.

"Sorry" Yuj apologize "I didn't mean to -"

Snow shook his head. "These people need heroes!" he explained, making a fist. He then straightened Yuj's hold on his gun "You keep your cool, and they will too" He gave the teen a few pat on the shoulder. "Got it?"

"Got it" Yuj nodded, understanding what Snow meant.

"What's our motto?" Snow spoke up.

"The army's no match for NORA!" Yuj answered with a grin.

Snow smiled, giving Yuj a thumbs-up. "Attaboy" he said, and messed with Yuj's hair. He then moved toward the front, where the fight was going on. He had a battle to win, people to rescue, and a fiance to save.

* * *

"Aw, this is crazy" said Maqui, a blond teen with goggles on his head.

"Then take a nap!" Said a muscular man with orange mullet. His name was Gadot.

"Really, can I?" Maqui asked, excited.

"Sure! And when we take a _dirt_ nap, you can save 'em all!" Gadot replied, continuing to fire at PSICOM troops.

Maqui now lied on the ground. "Aw, that's even worse" he whined.

Snow arrived on the scene, taking cover beside Maqui. "No dirt naps today. We're all in this together!" he said. With that, Maqui suddenly got up and randomly shot his gun at the enemy. He shrugged it off, but kept firing.

"Our enemy's the Sanctum! Their dreaded PSICOM no less" Snow continued.

To his right, a teenage girl sat on the floor, armed with a rifle in hand. Her name was Lebreau. "What's the dread? PSICOM's nothing but a whole bunch of bluster and bullying. They've got nothing on NORA"  
"Well, we're heroes after all" Gadot pointed out, standing up firing his gun.

"Let's prove it!" Snow stood up, rallying the group. Maqui and Lebreau got up as well.

With a cheer, they began moving out from their cover and pushed forward.

* * *

"We've gotta clear the path outta here" Snow told the other. They were hiding behind some debris, looking at a squad of soldiers up ahead.

"No more…" Maqui moaned, his back leaning against the debris as he fell to the floor.

Lebreay sighed at the sight. "There are soldiers everywhere"

"Yo boss, what's the plan?" Gadot asked the NORA leader.

At this, Snow stood up. "Charge in, guns blazing" he said casually.

"Hey! That's not a plan!" Maqui pointed out.

Lebreau grinned "Real heroes don't need plans"

"How about this?" Snow said "We hit 'em hard, and hit 'em again"

"Better" Maqui replied as he got up and followed him.

Gadot gave out a small laugh as Snow charged forward. "Don't you kids go fallin' behind now!"

"Yeah, yeah" Lebreau muttered.

The gang attacked the soldiers, clearing their way toward the currently detained deportees. All it needed was a lot of bullets, and a couple of punches by Snow, and they were through.

Gadot was on guard duty. Maqui and Lebreau started collecting the dropped guns. They checked the ammo as Snow was addressing the civilians.

"You all okay?" he asked. Then he saw Maqui dropped the guns on the ground.

"Hey, careful with those" he scolded the goggles wearing teen.

Snow's attention then returned to the deportees. Their morales were low. He needed to motivated them, to reassure that they will survive. "Don't worry. No one's moving to Pulse today. We'll clear a path outta here, so be ready to -"

One of the deportees stood up and shouted. "Wait! Let me fight with you!"

Another one, still in the robe, was the next. "Yeah, you can't expect us to just sit here!"

Soon, more and more volunteered themselves to fight. Snow turned to Gadot, and said, "Could help"

"Yep" Gadot agreed. It might even the odds of people getting out of here alive.

The deportee who spoke first continued. "Please, let us help" But before anything could be done, an explosion rumbled, causing fear and panic among the deportees. Snow look back, seeing that the explosion took place from where NORA gang came from, judging by the hint of orange he could see from the distance. Clearly, the way back won't be as clear as how they got here.

"Okay then. Volunteers front and centre" the NORA leader announced. One by one, half of the deportees grabbed the guns handed by Maqui and Lebreau.

Among the deportees, Nora Estheim was staring at the scene. She was a woman in a cream-colored clothing with silver hair. She then looked down on her son Hope Estheim, who was crying in fear of both dying and being deported. It was decided for her. She would fight for her son.

When she stood up, Hope immediately grabbed her arm. "Mom…" he cried, not wanting her to go.

"Don't worry" She reassured her son before leaving him behind. She then walked up to the NORA leader, holding a gun in her hand.

"You sure?" Snow asked.

"Yeah…" Nora replied "Moms are tough"

"Right…" Snow said, didn't take the word in completely.

Gadot then came over, holding the last gun. "It's the last one, boss"

Snow took the last gun, and held it out of the rest of the deportees. "Last one, somebody take it"

At the sight of the firearm, Hope backed away from it. "No… I can't"

A girl, who was still in the robe, then walked up and opened her arms, accepting the gun with a cheery smile. This was Vanille, a Pulse l'Cie from Gran Pulse. She boarded the Purge train, thinking that it would take her home. She took the gun, seeing that Hope was terrified seeing it.

Truth be told, Vanille didn't want it as well. She had no intention to fight, or kill. All she ever wanted was to go home, to be free from her burden, her Focus.

"Here!" she said, waiting for the gun.

Snow handed the gun to her. "When push comes the shove, keep 'em safe"

Vanille held the gun in a firing position, and pointed it at Snow. "Bang!" she imitated the shooting sound while moved the gun as if it was shooting.

Snow also played pretend as well, giving her an expression of being shot.

Her first impression of Snow: all talk.

Snow then started to attend to those who were not volunteering to fight. "All right. Lay low and you'll be fine. We'll clear out the area. We're going home together!"

Not one single person stood up. They were too depressed to do so.

"Come on everybody up!" Lebreau encouraged. This time, they were getting up.

"Right" Gadot said, ready to move out "New recruits - on me!"

The group then moved out into the battlefield. Nora followed, but stopped to look at Hope first. He was still sitting on the ground. Lebreau then pulled him up and escorted him with the rest to safety. Certain that her son will be safe and sound, she gave him one last glance before joining the fight.

* * *

Back to the NORA gang, Snow, along with Gadot and Lebreau, led the spearhead charge with the volunteers supporting from the rear. It was a clean sweep until they reached the end, where PSICOM had unleashed one of their bioweapons, a massive Beta Behemoth. It was the only thing standing between them and their goal.

"Heroes don't run from fights" the NORA leader said, assuming fighting position as the massive bioweapon charged at them.

The fight lasted longer than any other fights so far. This bioweapon was very strong, able to withstand a lot of damage. Despite the focusing fire given by Gadot, and Lebreau, the Beta Behemoth was still strong enough to heave them. Snow had to take most of the brunt of its attack, some literally sent him flying in the air. Still, nothing a potion couldn't take care of.

Finally, the Beta Behemoth was brought down. PSICOM troops began falling back. However, a PSICOM airship flew in, its turrets aimed at them. It then rained down fire on them, killing those who couldn't get to cover in time.

"Snow! We got trouble!" Gadot shouted.

"No kiddin'..." Snow muttered. He looked forward and found a rocket launcher lying out in the open. He turned to Nora and told her to stay down before running up to get the weapon.

He dived forward, dodging the incoming bullets. His hands touched the rocket launcher, but he lost the grip on it when he rolled over. It remained a few good meters out of his reach. He then looked up. The airship began powering up its giant cannon, preparing to disintegrate them all into dust.

At that moment, Snow gritted his teeth. He cannot die here. Not now. He had promised her. He had promised her to be there with her. He cannot fail that now.

Before the cannon was fired, an explosion hit its hull. The airship then lost its altitude, flying away from them. Snow turned to his side to see Nora holding the used rocket launcher. She dropped it to the ground before lending him a hand. "I told you, didn't I?" she remarked. "Moms are tough" With her assistance, Snow got back up on his feet.

But the moment did not last. In its final moment, the airship cannon fired, hitting the bridge. The blast sent shrapnels flying, one of them embedded into Nora's back. Nevertheless, the two were knocked down by the blast.

It must have hit a critical structure or two since the bridge began to sagged down and split apart. When Snow came to, he was hearing screams and cries. He got up to sitting position, with Nora in his arms, and watched the other side as it collapsed. People on it were falling from it, either by sliding down, or being pushed over by things and people that were sliding down.

"No…" Snow said in horror as he slowly backed away from the edge. Those people… he brought them to their death. He was supposed to save them. And now…

His thoughts were broken as the floor shifted, causing them to slide off the edge. Snow managed to grab on a piece of metal that stuck out of the bridge, with the other hand holding Nora.

As the NORA leader held on, Nora wasn't doing well. She was losing blood. She knew she will die here, but at least Hope was safe. She was sure that Bartholomew would take care of him despite of how distant he was from their only son, and how much Hope despised him for it. In her dying breath, the mother looked up to Snow and pleaded to him, "Get him home… please..."

"Hold on!" Snow shouted, determined to not losing another person.

Nora smiled. Her head then went limp. Snow was losing his grip on her, or rather, Nora no was no longer holding his hand. Tried as he might, her hand then slipped away, falling down along with the others.

"No!" The NORA leader cried out, watching her fall.

He remained there, frozen. He glanced at the very hand that held onto her. He couldn't saved her… He couldn't...

And then, he fell. The structure gave away again, causing him to slip off and descended.

And he wasn't the only one who cried at the sight of Nora's death.

* * *

"Ah!" Hope cried, watching as the only person he held dear fell down into the abyss below. His hands reached out, as if trying to reach her.

Traumatized, he stood there. He was about to cry. His tears were about to leak. Why did she have to die? Why? He wanted to blame someone. He wanted to. Someone had to pay for his mother's death.

Beside him, Vanille pulled his arm. "Come on!" she yelled. When Hope didn't respond, even when there were aircrafts firing around them, she slapped him to his senses. "We have to move!"

"Right…" Hope nodded.

Vanille then grabbed his hand and ran back to the rest of the deportees along with Hope. Deep inside, she wondered with a heavy heart. What this their fault? Her fault? That these innocent people have to die just because of her being a Pulse l'Cie?

* * *

Back on the air bridge, Sazh and Cade watched as the war raged on in front of them. To Cade, it was nothing much. To Sazh, however…

"It's an out-and-out massacre…" he quoted "Those people won't even live long enough to die on Pulse"

"That was the idea" Lightning added.

Sazh turned to the former soldier "What?"

"Sanctum logic" Lightning explained. "They conjure up the Purge to eliminate the threat. I mean, why carry the danger all the way to Pulse? Why not just stamp it out here?"

"Execution masquerading as exile." Cade added, understanding what she meant

"Yeah. That's all the Purge ever was" Lightning agreed.

Sazh gave himself a nervous laugh. "'Relocation to Pulse'. How does the government get away with putting crap like that?"

"Maybe because they were the one putting it up" Cade guessed, making a shrug.

"And you" Sazh now focused on Lightning. "You knew this was gonna happen?"

"The Purge was PSICOM" Lightning informed the old pilot "Private Sanctum troops, not the Guardian Corps"

"PSICOM. Guardian Corps." Sazh said. "Soldiers are soldiers, aren't they"

"Not really" Cade clarified. "The GC guys are more like a police than military. They handled domestic affairs. PSICOM deal with Pulse and all that related to them."

Sazh continued from where he left off. "Pulse fal'Cie, and their l'Cie are the enemy of the state. Tell a soldier to kill an enemy, and you really think that this is gonna matter what uniform he's wearing" He pointed at a corpse of the PSICOM soldier from earlier.

"Might have matter to that one" Lightning replied. "Couldn't shoot. Got himself shot instead"

Sazh walked up to the former soldier. "How about you?" he asked. "Order to say shoot, you pull the trigger?"

Lightning didn't answer. She was deep in thoughts of her own sister. Serah… her sister, and a Pulse l'Cie… Lightning literally shunned her away on the day her younger sister told about being a l'Cie. She pushed away her own sister the day she needed her the most. Now she regretted what she did.

Damn those orders. She came here for her and will take her home. She will protect her unlike that blond idiot had failed to do so.

With her not answering, Sazh gave up. "Fine. Forget I asked"

Cade looked at Lightning. Judging from how she didn't answer, she must've met a l'Cie before. Whoever it was, she seemed to hold them dear to her.

Suddenly, a siren alarm rang out through the entirety of the Hanging Edge. Sazh looked head, pointing at the said direction. "Whoa. What's that?"

Cade and Lightning looked forward, and they recognized what it was.

The Bodhum Vestige, a derelict from Pulse, also known as the Lowerworld, being hauled in by PSICOM.


	3. TO THE VESTIGE

Chapter 2 - TO THE VESTIGE

"_Attention Purge deportees. Attention Purge deportees. Put down your weapons and surrender immediately. Your removal is the will of the people of Cocoon. Should you attempt to flee the Sanctum will employ every resources necessary to bring you to justice. This land is no longer your home. Cease hostility and surrender at once"_

* * *

Among the ruins, Snow stood up from the rubble. He looked at the Vestige that was being moved into position by PSICOM. In his recovering breath, he spoke out one word.

"Serah…"

* * *

"Just what you were looking for" Sazh commented, looking at the Vestige.

Lightning had her eyes on her objective. "Yeah. Right in there"

"The Pulse fal'Cie." the pilot finished his comment.

Cade folded his arms. Well, back to where it all started, he supposed.

* * *

Hope and Vanille watched as the Bodhum Vestige passed them by. This thing was the cause of the Purge in Bodhum. It ruined the lives of all those who lived there, sending them to their doom.

Hope had removed his robe off of him. The young boy had silver hair. He wore a black shirt under his yellow and orange coat of his. He also wore brown pants and a pair of white sneakers. He had a light green bandana with black colored patterns wrapped around his neck.

His attention landed on a pair of deportees who were still in robes. A mother and son. A reminder of what he had now lost… because of Him.

Then he heard the sound of a robe hitting the floor. Hope turned around and saw Vanille. The redhead was smiling at him. She was dressed in a rather outlandish fashion, as if she came from an ancient tribe or something. There were many accessories on her, from bracelets, to necklace, to ear rings. Pink bra wrapped around her breasts, covering them entirely. Her short orange skirt was covered by a fur pelt, keeping her bottom and sides hidden even when she was bending over. A small pouch was attached to her strange looking belt. Her shoes seemed to be like those worn in winter.

Vanille looked and grabbed the gun. She then handed it to Hope. "Here"

Hope was still stunned, so the redhead decided to hugged him. She released him a bit later, holding onto his shoulders. "It's too much, isn't it?"

Hope couldn't answer, but it was too. What happened today was too much for a sixteen years old like him to endure.

"Face it later" Vanile advised, letting her hands go from the boy. She made a gesture before running of, saying "Ciao!"

"Hey, wait!" Hope called out, running after her as well. He left the gun behind where the two discarded their robes.

They had never notice a brunette haired girl who was looking up at the Vestige before running after the two.

* * *

Sazh, Cade, and Lightning were still on the air bridge. The pink hair soldier looked down, seeing a route that would lead her to the Vestige. This was it. Her stop.

Sazh meanwhile was asking a question. "So how do you figure that Pulse fal'Cie is different for the Sanctum's." He was looking at the Chocobo in this hand "All things being equal, I just as soon keep wondering"

"Not sure" Cade voiced his opinion. "The only difference I know of was the brand they gave to their l'Cie."

"Really? Do you know what they look like?" Sazh asked, curious.

"Kind of." Cade shrugged. "But it would be easier to describe if I have a pen and paper to draw them on"

"That's all right…" Sazh replied, his mind soon drifted to the reason why he was here.

Lightning didn't listen. She backed away from the edge. "Time to jump, she told them"

Before they could registered what she was going to do, she ran and jumped off the air bridge. She snapped her fingers mid-air. Her body was then covered in barrier. She made an impact on the ground, and walked out unbroken, leaving only a purple sphere of energy behind.

"Might as well go. Don't wanna get left behind, do you?" Cade suggested, knowing that the energy sphere would cushion the fall as well. He had seen PSICOM elites jumping down from high space using that kind of technology before. He leaped off, and landed in the field unscathed.

"Damn..." Sazh was left dumbstruck. Those two just jumped off without fear of breaking their bones and bodies. He looked at the Chocobo. It seemed to be giving him confidence. "If they can do it, so can we." he said. He then climbed down the ledge, but before he could drop down, he slipped off, and landed with his entire body facing down. He would be dead if he didn't land in the anti-gravity sphere.

Cade saw Lightning looked back a bit before walking away toward the Vestige. "Come on, old man. Let's go" he said, going after the former soldier.

"Hey! I'm not that old!" the pilot shouted, got up and running after them.

* * *

Corpses of PSICOM and Purge deportees scattered around them in all condition. Crushed, broken, shot, killed, and dead. He looked up at the remains of the bridge they were standing on the moment ago. That airship shot the bridge on purpose. He tightened his fist. They were led right into a fucking trap.

"Come on. Come on" Snow was slapping Gadot's face in the attempt to wake the mohawk man up.

And it worked. Gadot came to his sense, and he was struck by the sight of the dead. "What about the others?" he asked.

Snow didn't respond. He was in deep thought when he thought about the dead. His rescue mission had failed, causing many citizen of Bodhum to die under his command.

"They didn't die. They couldn't have died!"

"Of course not" the NORA leader replied.

Gadot got up and set his dislocated shoulder back in place. He noticed the sudden change in Snow. He was willing to lead and fight back then, but now, it was as if he was about to resign and die. Those deaths must've affected him badly. He needed to snap the blond out of his trance. He needed Snow the leader now.

"Hey, get a grip man" the mohawk man called out "What's wrong with you?"

Snow knew he would have to bear the weight of the dead. He was supposed to look after them, and he failed to do so. However, one particular deceased that was stuck in his mind was the mother. She told him to…

"Get him home…" Snow was trying to piece it together. He knew that the mother was with a kid in a robe before she joined the fight. But since the kid was wearing a robe back then, he had no idea of who the kid was or what the kid really looked like. Aside from the fact that it was a boy, there was nothing else.

"Get _who _home?" he asked himself.

Then were was a sound of a massive crash. They turned to the noise and saw an air bridge was destroyed by PSICOM's airships. Seeing that, the three NORA members realized that sooner or later, PSICOM would found them and the rest of the deportees.

"Toss me that" Gadot told Snow, pointing at a gun.

Snow reached for the gun. "Catch" he threw it to Gadot. However, the mohawk man then aimed the gun at Snow.

"Gadot, what are you doing!?" Snow asked.

Contradict to what Snow thought, Gadot wasn't really trying to kill him. He was just trying to bring Snow back to his senses. "So what are you afraid of, huh?" he chuckled "You're supposed to be the hero." He then pointed at the Vestige. "She was waiting in there, ain't she? Your lovely bride to be?"

Snow looked up at the Bodhum Vestige in the distance. Serah, the damsel he seeked was held within it, just like the princess in a tower.

"Isn't it time to pick her up?" Gadot asked.

"Yeah…" Snow answered.

The two then heard and saw two airbikes flew overhead. They landed a walking distance away from where they were.

Snow smiled. "There's our ride"

Gadot laughed. "Now you're talkin'."

The two headed toward the landing site. They fought against more Pantherons, and some aerial infantry units. PSICOM had stepped up their games, trying to keep the Purge under control. But with a goal in mind, they plowed through the resistance, and reached the airbikes without any difficulties.

Gadot revved up the engine, disappointed with its sound. They had one of their own that roared a lot louder than this. "That's a sad sound" he commented "Where's the soul?"

Snow started his ride up as well. He looked at the Vestige, and began to think about those who died again, especially the woman who had saved his life. Of course, the first thing that popped up in his mind was Serah, his love, his fiance.

"Hey Gadot…"

"Yeah?" The two NORA members responded.

"If you don't know who to save, you just protect them all, right?" Snow asked.

"Something on your mind?" Gadot replied "You've got plenty of time to think on the way, hero"

"Yeah…"

The two then turned their airbikes in the other direction. They revved up the engines.

"Ready?" Snow started the countdown. "Go!"

They raced away from the site, heading to the rendezvous point where they kept the rescued Purge survivors.

* * *

Sky bridge No.3 was the bridge that NORA kept the remaining survivors from the other bridge to protect them from PSICOM. From here, the Vestige was a few distances away. Those who had firearms held them at the ready, preparing for any attempt made by PSICOM. Doubts and concerns still filled among the survivors. So many had died by the hand of their own government. They didn't care about them. They were just being eradicated for not obeying the rules. Right now, they can only hope that they would return home to Bodhum safely.

Lebreau, Yuj, and Maqui were worried about the rest of the gang. It had been a while since the bridge collapsed, and according to Lebreau, Snow and Gadot fell. They could only hope that they survived the fall.

Then they heard the sound of airbikes. Thinking it was the enemy, they aimed the gun at the noise, only to find Snow and Gadot riding them.

"Hey!" Gadot greeted

"Hey! It's us! It's us! Don't shoot!" Snow called out to stop the other three from shooting their own members.

The NORA gang talked to each other. Outside of the talk circle, Hope stood there, looking directly at Snow. If look could kill, the NORA leader would be dead by now.

"That's the one" He said, just as Vanille caught up with him.

"Didn't you have something to tell him?" The redhead reminded.

"Yeah…" Hope answered. However, he was very unconfident about this.

Vanille made a fist and smile. "All right then"

"But I…"

"I'll go with you" Vanille told the boy.

"Wait, what?" Hope asked.

Meanwhile, the talk dragged on. Snow then asked, "Everyone safe?"

Yuj and Maqui laughed. The two made an emote and acted it out. "The army's no match for NORA!" they chanted.

Gadot laughed while Lebreau slapped the younger members' heads. "Grow up" she said.

"I meant the kids" Snow corrected.

"All accounted for" Yuj confirmed.

"Okay…" Snow said. Soon he looked back at his hand again. The hand that held onto Nora before she fell. "Let's keep it that way, all right?"

Meanwhile, Vanille pushed Hope forward, trying to encourage him to talk. "Go!" she cheered.

Despite the push, Hope didn't continue moving. Vanille followed up to him, and called out to Snow. "Hey!" But her voice was drowned out by the sound of the airbike engine. Unfamiliar with its sound, they covered their ears.

Back to Snow, he was ready to leave. "I'll swing by the Vestige. Keep the kids out of trouble"

"You got it" Gadot obliged "Say hi to the missus for me" He then laughed. "You go skirt chasing; I take care of the kids! Some husband!"

"Dinner's on me" Snow said.

"It better be home cookin'" Gadot insisted.

"When's the wedding, lover boy?" Yuj asked tauntingly.

"Don't worry, none of you are invited" Snow replied. This was followed by the rest of the gang protesting. But Snow drove off, leaving them behind.

"Catch ya later!" he shouted before he sped away. He raced toward the Vestige that held Serah…

And the fal'Cie that branded her.

* * *

Vanille and Hope saw Snow flew away. There went the chance to talk it out with Snow. However, they, or rather just Vanille, had a plan to catch up with the blond leader.

The NORA gang soon split up and went to work, reassuring and guarding the survivors. Vanille and Hope were standing in front of an airbike, one that Gadot rode on. Vanille looked at the driver seat. She had never rode in one of these before. Not even Fang or Cade could. This kind of technology was not available for them on Gran Pulse, at least not back in their time. Who knew? Maybe there was already one now.

Vanille turned to Hope. "You okay?" she asked, seeing that his emotion had yet changed.

"I want to tell him but…" Hope's word died in his mouth, still trying to cope with his mother's death. His hand grabbed on Vanille's wrist.

"From the way you eyed that blond guy, you don't like him much, do you?" Hope and Vanille turned around and saw a seventeen years old brunette girl standing there. She had grey shirt and black jeans. A few speck of oil could be seen staining her shirt. A pair of goggles hung around her neck On her head was a cap. Her hair was tied into a tail, reaching her neck by a margin. Slinging from her back was a quiver full of steel arrows, and a compound bow. She sent out her hand, as if expecting handshakes. "Ariel Katzroy. You?"

"Hope. Hope Estheim" Hope replied, shaking her hand. His mother taught him manners well.

"Nice to meet you" Ariel smiled. She had seen that eyes before. The eyes that reminded her of her lost of her love ones. Ariel had the same in the past.

Sazh was not her real father. It was pretty clear since she had white skin rather than black. Her real father neglected her, leaving her alone while he attended to their two eldest brothers. Only her mother was there for her, but that was until she passed away a month before Ariel's sixth birthday. Unable to take the negligence of her remaining family, she decided to run away from them at the age of six, and apparently, said family didn't care about her being missing. She didn't know where else to go, so she roamed Cocoon, avoiding wildlife as much as she could. It was until she stumbled into the Katzroy couple in Nautilus a few months later where she had a real happy family. They decided to take her in and made her a part of their family.

For why was she here and not with Sazh? First reason was that Sazh wanted to do this alone. Secondly, Ariel didn't want him to know and to worry. He had probably thought she was with Dajh right now. However, they both came here for the same reason.

"Say" Vanille spoke out, pointing at the airbike's pilot seat "Can any of you fly this?"

"If it's an airship, then I can… a bit" Ariel answered. She had seen her father flew before, and he taught her a bit as well. However, she had never really flown in one herself since she didn't have a pilot license. "Airbike…no"

"Yeah. I think so" Hope said. In truth, he had never driven one before.

"All right!" Vanille squealed. She then pushed Hope into the pilot seat "In you go!"

Ariel grinned. This girl was very happy despite what was going on around them. "You, redhead" she called out, getting Vanille's attention "What's your name?"

"Vanille" the redhead replied shortly.

"Ariel Katzroy. Nice to see you" Ariel introduced herself.

"Nice to see you too" Vanille said, still brightened with her smile. She then hopped into the seat with Hope, who became a little uncomfortable. "That way" she said, pointing forward at the Bodhum Vestige.

Ariel, meanwhile, wondered if she could fit inside even if it was as crowded as it was now. Airbike was designed just for one, but that was adult size. Would it fit three teenagers?

Hope shook his head. She can't be serious. "No, no… If we go in there, that thing could - it could make us l'Cie. This is - I don't think I can -"

Vanille put his hand on the flight control. "You can do it" she cheered.

"What are you three doing!?" the three teens turned to the noise and saw the mohawk man of the NORA gang running after them.

She got it in the air within a few seconds. Meanwhile, Hope started the engines "Here we go" he said, and drove away. Unfortunately for Ariel, he flew too early before she could get in the seat properly. She ended up holding on the tail section of the airbike. It then hit the cable on the bridge, causing it to descended.

Gadot ran up to the edge. He was then backed off by the ascending airbike that Hope was riding. Hanging on the tail section was Ariel, gripping on it like there was no tomorrow. She was screaming as the airbike swayed a bit in the air.

"Get back here! Do you hear me!? Hey!" Gadot shouted, waving at them to call them back.

Ignoring Gadot's shout and Ariel's scream's, they flew toward the Vestige. They never knew what would happened when they get there.

* * *

**And now, the second OCs had got into the story**

**Well, for each OCs, I had different ideas and inspiration on each one.**

**For Cade, it originated from the idea about having a third Pulsian. There were many female third Pulsian, so I used a male. I find having him appeared on Cocoon out of nowhere seemed unjust, so I just decided to have him waking up with Fang and Vanille. For his weapon, it was a constant swapping between scythe, shotgun, and sledgehammer before I concluded it to scythe.**

**For Ariel, the idea came from draxon's Naruto/FF XIII crossover challenge where the neglected Naruto was accidentally transported to Cocoon and was adopted by Sazh and his wife. However, while Naruto/FF XIII crossovers are interesting, I didn't wanted to use Naruto, especially the neglected one. Never like that kind of fanfic anyway. Thus, I came up with Ariel. For her weapon, it will be shown in the next chapter.**

**That is all. NamThunder signing out.**


	4. BELLY OF THE BEAST

Chapter 3 - BELLY OF THE BEAST

"Well, it's official. Neither of us can fly the airbike."

Ariel slowly got up, resetting her dislocated right arm back in place. She was looking at Hope and Vanille, who were lying on the ground just a distance away from the crash airbike. Smoke was seen coming out of the wreckage. They won't be getting out of here by the way they came.

"Wow… that was... close..." Vanille got up. "Now where's the…" She turned around to see the broken airbike. "Oops. Well then…" she gazed around, finding no one inside the Vestige. "Guess it… just us" She put her hands together, forming a diamond shape by crossing her indexes and pinkies.

"What did you expect?" Hope questioned the redhead. He hadn't move from his spot. "Even soldiers… know not to go near the fal'Cie. You became a Pulse l'Cie and you're finished"

Ariel went quiet. She gazed at her right hand. She remembered that day so well. Dajh… he was near a fal'Cie in its final moment, and it made him a l'Cie.

"What do you mean 'finished'?" Vanille asked.

"Haven't you heard miss…" Hope shot back.

"Vanille" Vanille interrupted. Seeing Hope's confused face, she clarified, giving her hand out "My name. Your name is Hope, right?"

"Yeah" Hope answered, taking the hand and pulled himself up. Vanille then helped brushing the dust off him. "Thank you" He then mumbled "What were we thinking?"

"Dunno about you two, but I just decide to tag along…" Ariel said. Her mind now recalled to the fear inducing ride she endured to get here.

Vanille put a finger on her chin in thoughts. "Well, since we're here… let's look around"

The three then walked around. Vanille was the most optimistic out of all, skipping and laughing in every step of her way. Ariel followed behind, with an eye looking out for danger. Her bow was drawn, ready to shoot at anything. Hope was a complete opposite. He was not as driven as the other two. He paced slowly behind them, wanting nothing more than to leave. They walked up a flight of stairs before Vanille parted off, climbing up a statue. "Oh, check this out!" she said

"Hey! Vanille, where are you...?" Hope asked.

Vanille only laugh out of joy. She came back, holding some sort of staff. It had antler shaped head and leather grip. She played around with it a bit.

"Well?" she asked, as if this was an audition.

Hope was left speechless. "That's… uh…"

Ariel smiled slightly. This girl was a pure bundle of joy. Like he was.

Suddenly, a roar came from behind them. A Pantheron leapt down from a pillar, landing on the ground with an intent to kill. Vanille brandished her weapon, the Binding Rod. Ariel then unfolded her compound bow, the Woodlander. Hope was hesitated at first about this fight. But knowing that they needed to fight their way through this, he pulled out his boomerang, the Airwing, a gift from his mother back in the days.

It was an easy fight. The Pantheron didn't stand a chance against three people. As they stowed away their weapons, Vanille spoke happily. "Okay. Back to exploring" And like usual, she ran off.

And so, they walked around. So many of PSICOM's bioweapons were left behind. Fortunately, they weren't the strong variants, so it was still a piece of cake.

"I thought this place was supposed to be empty." Hope said

"Those must be what's left of PSICOM in here." Ariel said "Heard none of them made it out alive"

"How did you know?" Hope asked.

"Heard from one of them talk back in Bodhum. Guess it is true" Ariel replied.

Then one thing caught their eyes, and mostly Hope's. An airbike, crashed, was in front of them. "It's his" the boy assumed before the group continued exploring.

After a while, Hope asked Vanille, who was smiling and skipping all the time. "Aren't you scared?"

"Not so much" Vanille answered.

"You really don't get it" Hope said.

"He got you there, Vanille" Ariel noted.

Vanille then turned around with a little frown on her face. She then started her lecture. "Pulse fal'Cie, and l'Cie are bad news. That's why Cocoon kick them out. Live too close to the fal'Cie, one way ticket to Pulse" She still believed it was. "That's the Purge in a nutshell"

"If they catch us here, they'll Purge us too" Hope argued "And then -"

"What's your problem?" Vanille asked, feeling tired of listening to his whine. Pulse wasn't that bad of a place.  
"What's my - Pulse is hell on earth!" Hope yelled.

Vanille looked down a bit. Everyone on Cocoon always view Pulse as something that it was clearly not. It wasn't hell on earth… well, to her that is.

"Yeah!" Vanille deeply thanked him for that. She hugged Hope with care. "We'll be okay. Calm down"

Hope shook her off. "Get off me." he said before walking away.

Vanille sighed as Ariel walked up to her. "That kid clearly have a deathwish or something" the brunette said.

Then there was an echo from above.

"Serah! Can you hear me!? Where are you!?"

It was Snow.

* * *

"Don't worry, Serah. Your hero is on his way"

Snow, who was a few floors above, stood among a mess of collection of stairs. He was staring at a strange object that had green light above it.

"Wonder what that's for?" he wondered before activating it. "Just hold on, Serah"

Platforms around him began to shift, forming new pathways. Snow wasn't sure what he had activated, but whatever it did, it gave him a path closer to Serah.

But it didn't end there.

* * *

Just outside of the Vestige's lower levels, Sazh and Cade sat down. They watched as Lightning tried to break down the door covered by a large red barrier in form of a Pulse brand.

Cade knew well it was locked and impenetrable. The powers inside must be out, leaving the place under lockdown. The only to remove that barrier was to turn on the power, which cannot be done from this side.

"Still won't budge?" Sazh said sarcastically. "I think the door's winning"

Lightning stopped her fruitless attack on the door. Her mind thought back to her sister, on her birthday. Why did she just lashed out at her like that? "Why didn't I listen?" she murmured.

"Uh, Beg your pardon?" Sazh asked, wondering if the former soldier had already lost it.

"It was me…" Lightning continued. "This is my fault"

"Beg your pardon?" the pilot said again.

Now Lightning turned to them. "Cover your ears"

Sazh's eyes then widened. "Oh, blast charge? Hold on, hold on!" Cade watched as the old man ran a few meters away before hitting the deck. "All right! Go for it! Make it happen!"

Lightning now turned to Cade. "You too" she insisted.

Cade covered his ears, but only when she looked. She turned around and he lowered his hands. He looked as Lightning touched the barrier with her palm. Her face looked sincere, seeking forgiveness, although it was still hard to make that out.

"I'm so sorry" she apologized "Please let me in? Please?"

The door, as if it was listening, suddenly powered up and opened. The barrier disappeared, allowing them in. Sazh looked back at the door. It was now wide open. "What the - Hey!"

"Right" Lightning said, looking at the Vestige's interior

"What did you - how did you open it?" Sazh asked. There were no explosions, and as seen earlier, brute force didn't work. What did she do?

Truth be told, Lightning didn't know. She didn't expect it to work. She put her Blazefire Saber back into its sheath before walking in.

"After you" Sazh said, letting the woman walked in first.

Cade knew it wasn't what she think it was. The door didn't open to her pleas. Someone had powered it up, lifting the lockdown.

They marched into the Vestige, and the door closed behind them, sealing them inside. They walked up some flights of stairs, fighting PSICOM bioweapons and mech along the way.

As they got higher and higher, Sazh began to talk. "If those robot things are still around, might be some soldiers trapped in here too… except they'd probably be l'Cie by now, right?"

Neither Lightning nor Cade answered.

"Not even Human anymore." Sazh continued "Just Pulse l'Cie, and enemies of Cocoon. Can't show 'em any mercy"

* * *

Back on the top, after clearing out some Pantherons, Snow returned to activating the next device. Once it was on, a platform lowered in front of him. He believed that this one would lead him to Serah. Thus, he hopped on, and descended down to the lower levels.

"Hang on, baby! Your hero's on the way!"

* * *

Vanille's group couldn't go anywhere. The path that connected where they were to the path above was too far and too high to climb or jump to. They just waited.

"Hang on, baby! Your hero's on the way!" Snow's voice echoed down to them.

With that, the power in this area turned on. Stairs ascended from the gap in between, and the only exit door was now unlocked as the Pulse symbol was no longer there.

"He _is _here" Hope said. He couldn't forget that voice. "Calling himself a hero…" He was seething. What kind of hero couldn't save his mother, and in fact, sent her to -? No. He wouldn't go there. That would break him down

Vanille then attended Hope. "He's coming our way" she informed.

"What should I do?" Hope asked, unsure of what to do.

"Tell him what you need to" Vanille advised.

Hope looked away. "But... nothing I say will - will change what happened"

"Just say it" Ariel said "Who knows? It might changed something"

Vanille thought about it shortly before saying, "We could just… run away"

Hope nodded. That would be the best thing to do in this situation.

The three walked deeper into the Vestige. Vanille took point. Hope and Ariel got the rear. They kept moving until they reached an intersection, where the kids were awed by the interior design.

That was until they heard a loud groan.

Looking down in one of the path, a mass of misfigured shape of Human slowly walked up to them in a slow and shaky manner. They got through some sort of golden gate made of energy that only irritated them. They were covered in navy-blue crystal with a tint of purple. On their chest, a symbol of a massive red eye situated over a black circle can be seen. Their claws hands were tipped red. And these things were coming from all directions.

Hope's fear grew. The group formed a circle, back to back. They were surrounded with nowhere to run.

"What... are they?" Hope managed to speak out.

"Cie'th, l'Cie who failed!" Vanile explained, watching the Cie'th closing in and surrounding them.

"The fate to l'Cie who failed to complete their Focus given by the fal'Cie" Ariel added, drawing her arrow. "To become a mindless chuck of living crystals…"

But before anything could happen, a loud battle cry came from the left. They saw Snow charging it, tackling a Cie'th out of the way before joining in. "Let's even these odds!" he yelled.

"Hey blondie!" Snow turned to see Ariel aiming the bow at the Cie'th in front of him. "Try not to get in my way so I don't have to remove them from your back."

"Right" the NORA leader replied with a smirk.

One by one, each Cie'th were defeated, shattering into pieces of crystals. Vanille used her Binding Rod to keep reeling the Cie'th in, while Snow punched the hell out of those abominations. Hope provided support with his Airwing, hitting all the targets. Ariel shot her arrows with precision, hitting the center of the red eye on each of the target.

They were soon down to the last three, all huddling near each other. Snow brought out a hand grenade. He pulled the pin and threw it at the center of the group. The explosion shattered the Cie'th into pieces.

With the threat neutralized, Snow turned to the team he just helped. He looked at the girl with the bow first. "Good aim" he commented.  
"Thanks" Ariel smiled. She extended her hand out. "I'm Ariel Katzroy. And you're… sorry, I didn't catch your name"

"Snow. Snow Villiers" the NORA leader replied, shaking her hand firmly. As soon as he let go, he resumed to what he was about to say "You kids gotta leave"

Each of them didn't answer. Vanille gave a nervous giggle, lacing her fingers, while Hope just stared at him with boiling rage within his body. Ariel only scratched her back.

Snow sighed. "Okay, listen. Find some place to hide. Just stay here. I'll go get Serah. Once I found her, we'll take you kids home. You'll be back before dinner"

Hope was seething. This guy was smiling, and he cared about this Serah more than… "You -"

"That includes me too?" Ariel asked, not impressed with how Snow was addressing her as. "Do I look like a kid to you?"

"Of course not" Snow replied "Later"

"Wait!" Vanille called out. If one could read her face, she was expressing the recognition of that name "Who's... Serah?"

Snow stopped for a bit. "My wife. Future wife, that is…" Snow explained. He scratched his neck as the next bit was the hard part. "She's a Pulse l'Cie"

Vanille gasped, her hand was over her mouth in shock. "Oh no…" Not her...

"She's in here somewhere along with the fal'Cie. I've got to find her and set her free"

"What?!" Ariel shouted in disbelief. There was one reason why she hated Pulse i'Cie. "That's why you're here?!"

Hope snapped. "What's wrong with you?!" he yelled at Snow "Why do you want to help a l'Cie?! They're the enemy!" His eyes gazed down to his feet, then back up to the blond he grew hated so much since… "How can you save a l'Cie, and not… and not…" he stamped his foot down, unable to say anything about Her. "That's insane"

"Probably" Snow replied "But I gotta do something, right?" He then waved as he ran down the staircase "I'll be back!"

Hope fell onto his knees when the trench coat guy disappeared from their sight. Vanille and Ariel just stood there checking her quiver. The redhead then checked on Hope. "Should we wait around for him, or hitch a ride?"

Hope suddenly shouted, hammering the marble stone floor. "I'd rather go to Pulse!" He was on the verge of crying. "Why is this happening to me? When they found the fal'Cie the other day, we were just visiting Bodhum. But the army took us… threw us on that train…"

Ariel grimaced. For this kid, it was just too much. Vanille meanwhile was trying to bring his spirit back up. She knelt down and patted his back lightly.

"And because of that guy, mom is…" Hope trailed off, unable to say that his mother was dead.

Meanwhile, Snow thought twice about his decision. He stopped before turning back. "Probably shouldn't leave them alone"

Back to Hope, who was still on his knees, "And now he wants to help a l'Cie?"

They heard a sound of returning footsteps. Snow was back. "Hey again" he greeted them, again.

"Hey" Ariel waved at him.

"Hey" Vanille nodded. She grasped the boy's hand. "Let's go with him"

Hope now looked up at her. "What..?"

"You've got to talk to him, Hope" Vanille explained "If you don't take this chance, you'll regret it forever" In her eyes, one could see regret. The regret of lying to her closest friends.

"Okay" Hope agreed.

"Okay" Vanille smiled, pulling him up to his feet.

"Let's go" Snow waved at the group, calling them to follow him. They obliged to his call. There was no point staying there anyway.

* * *

In the level below, Lightning, Sazh, and Cade walked up more flights of stairs.

"What's gotten into you, soldier? Thought you came for a fight" Sazh asked, causing the pink hair woman to stop. Her hand curled into fist.

"My sister…" she said. It was hard just to say it. She wasn't sure how Sazh and Cade would react, but so far, Sazh clearly hated Pulse fal'Cie and their l'Cie more than the Sanctum itself. How could she say it if he hated them?

"Your sister?" Sazh asked.

"She's a l'Cie"

Cade froze. Now he knew why Lightning looked familiar. She was her sister. Sister of the girl that stumbled into the Vestige and got branded on the day they woke up from crystal sleep.

"What? A _Pulse _l'Cie" Sazh wanted her to clarify. To have a l'Cie as a family, he understood. But to have a _Pulse _l'Cie as one…

Lightning nodded once. That was all the answer he needed. "The fal'Cie has her captive. But I'll find her"

"Is she still…?" Sazh was about to continue, but Lightning just walked away. He ran up in front of her, causing her to stop "What was her Focus?"

Lightning couldn't answer. She didn't know and that was the truth.

The pilot kept asking, "What did the fal'Cie order her to do? I mean, it wasn't 'blow up Cocoon', or anything like that, was it?"

"I don't think it is" Cade said "Even as a l'Cie, she's just a woman. No way she can take out Cocoon alone"

Lightning could only say, "I didn't asked."

Suddenly, there was a sound. The Pulse symbol that blocked the way upstairs disappeared. Walking out from it were Cie'th, slowly making their way down with their shaking body.

"Listen to me" Sazh explained. He had to tell her before she ran off to fight again "When a person get cursed by a fal'Cie, they become a l'Cie. Then they are given a focus, right?"

Lightning kept quiet. Where was he going with this?

Sazh sighed. "How do I put this?" He then motioned towards the Cie'th "When they don't carry it out, l'Cie ended up as one of those things" He was met with more silence. "What I'm saying is, if your sister had gone that far -"

Lightning now turned away with a fist. She was about to ditch her anger out on him.

"I - I mean…!" Sazh was now struggling to tell her "She might still… how can I…? Oh man" He exhaled. This was the hardest part. "There's no way to turn a l'Cie back into Human. Even if she completes her Focus, there's no changing her fate. She'll live her life as a fal'Cie slave"

Lightning turned to the old man. His words hurted her like a knife. She wanted to argue, but he was right about everything. She couldn't form any word to counter that.

"Don't make her suffer"

She gritted her teeth and shoved Sazh back a few feet. "Just say it!" she shouted, hiding her tears "Any l'Cie… anyone who might ever become a l'Cie should be wiped off the face of Cocoon!" She turned away from Sazh, who was now regretting saying those things to her "It's people like you who started the Purge in the first place"

Lightning knew the man was just trying to help. But it would be better if he just kept quiet. She didn't want the reminder of how she lost her sister in the first place.

"She's right, Sazh" Cade agreed. "People wanted them Purge"

Without a word, the three continued their way up through the hordes of Cie'th. They were much an opposition against them.

Not against Lightning when it comes to Serah.


	5. A DATE WITH THE FAL'CIE

Chapter 4 - A DATE WITH THE FAL'CIE

After taking the elevator up to the middle level, Lightning gasped and ran forward. She was looking at a girl dressed in white shirt and red skirt. There was a necklace similar to the one she had saw before on a certain someone. However, she can tell who the girl was judging from the unmistakable pink hair. There was only one other person than her that had one.

"Serah!" she cried, kneeling down over her. Seeing her unresponsive, she lifted her sister up and turned around. "Time to go! We have to leave before the army -" In her way, Sazh stood there. His eyes was fixed to the brand on Serah's left arm. "What?"

"That's a Pulse brand" Sazh said "That girl's a l'Cie"

"I've already told you that" Lightning replied. Whatever he was going to say, she didn't want to hear it.

"Pulse l'Cie are the enemies of Cocoon" As the pilot said this, his left hand grabbed one of his Vega 42's.

"So they should die?" Lightning pulled Serah's body away from him.

"Listen" Sazh negotiated "If she failed her Focus, you know how that will end"

Cade looked at the girl in Lightning's arm. So that girl was Serah… Damn, if this former soldier found out about…

"So killing her is a mercy?" Lightning shot back. She won't let her sister die now. She had made a promised to her. She failed it once, she won't fail again.

Then she noticed. A hand. A hand of her sister. It was up to her face. "You came…"

Lightning knelt down. At least she was fine. That was a good news.

Then came the news she didn't want to hear.

"Serah!" from above, Snow, along with three others, descended down a platform. Snow jumped off and ran up to his fiance. Sazh and Cade meanwhile noticed two other people on the platform.

"Vanille!"

"Ariel?!"

"Cade!"

"Dad!"

Each one ran up to the respective partner. "What are you doing here?!" Sazh asked, confused about his daughter's presence. "I thought you were staying with Dajh!"

"I want to help Dajh, dad" Ariel explained "I heard that you plan to board the train to kill the Pulse fal'Cie. I didn't want you to worry, so I snuck in after you and board the train. I just sat with him" She pointed at Hope, who was standing a distance away, still staring at Snow.

As the father and daughter talked, Vanille and Cade hugged each other. "I thought I've lost you" said the scythe user "Where have you been lately? I heard you were visiting Bodhum. I looked around, but couldn't find you anywhere"

"Well I was in Bodhum" Vanille answered. "I was there watching the fireworks two days ago. But now that you're here, we can go home together"

"Home?" Cade asked. He couldn't say 'Gran Pulse' here. They would kill them for that. And how were they going home? The Purge was about eliminating all traces of Pulse, including the normal people near it.

As they conversed with each other, Snow was talking with the Farron sisters, the younger one to be precise. He grasped her hand, much to Lightning's disgust.

"Serah" Snow felt her soft hand touching his hard one. It was really her. She was here, and it was not a dream. "You're here"

"Is that… my hero?" Serah moaned. She was still weak from whatever happened to her prior to their arrival.

Meanwhile, Vanille looked over Cade' shoulder. "Is that her?" she asked quietly.

Cade could only nod. "Unfortunately..." he said.

Vanille covered her mouth in shock. Cade knew she was the emotional one out of three of them.

Now, back to the love triangle.

"Let's get you out of here" Snow said, about to lift her up, but was denied by the older Farron.

"Hands off. _I'm_ talking her home"

"But, _sis _-"

"I'm not your sister!" Lightning spat, remembered why she came here. "You couldn't protect her! It's your fault she -"

"You can save us" All attentions now landed at Serah. She blinked slowly before looking at Lightning and Snow.

"Serah?" Lightning asked. Could this be her Focus?

"You can save us" Serah repeated "Protect us all… Save… Cocoon…"

"Save Cocoon? Serah? That was your Focus?" Lightning asked.

"Anything. I'll do anything. Leave it to me, you'll see. I'll protect Cocoon. I'll save everyone!" Snow reassured his lover. He was speaking rapid-fire. He wasn't sure how long Serah had left before _that, _but he will do anything for her, even if it was her last wish.

Lightning shortly glanced at Snow before returning to her younger sister "Somehow, I'll make things right" She promised.

"You just relax" Snow added with a smile.

Serah smiled, seeing that they promised to save Cocoon. "Thank you" she closed her eyes, and one teardrop leaked.

Suddenly, a blue light shone from where her brand was. Her body then levitated off Lightning's arms. As she went higher and higher, Snow let go of her hands, seeing that she won't come down.

As he let go, all could see her fingers turning crystal, and it spreaded up her limbs. Skin flaked off, like reptile shedding skin. Her body then moved into a fetal position as the crystal transformation continued until its completion. From her back, the crystal 'bed' grew. The tear for earlier dropped off her crystallized face. It guided toward Snow's hand, and formed into a tear shape crystal.

Snow gasped. Now he didn't want this to happen. He looked up and jumped, trying to grasp his lover anyway he can. "Serah! Serah!"

Lightning was in disbelief as well. She was too late. She couldn't save her, just like Snow.

"Why is she turning to crystal?" Vanille asked.

This caught Cade's attention. She had told him and Fang that she had lost her memories about their Focus, but they were still aware about what happened if one completed their Focus. It was why they seeked out for their Focus in the first place. Guess she was just trying to blend in by playing dumb.

Hope was awed by the sight. He hated l'Cie, sure, but the transformation was just too stunning to voice out the hate. He recalled to the stories his mom… once told him. "The l'Cie who fulfill their Focus are transformed into crystal, and gain eternal life."

"Just like the story said" Sazh added, remember telling a few to Dajh and Ariel when they were younger.

The glow died down as the now hibernating Serah descended. With Serah's crystal body now levelled with them, Snow looked at her face. "Serah…" he whispered. "Sweet dreams, Serah"

"'Sweet dreams'?!" Anger flooded into Lightning. She pushed Sazh out of the way and pulled in Snow. "She's not sleeping! Serah's… she's…" She was about to cry. She turned away from the rest. She cannot show them that she was crying.

"She's alive" Cade said it before Snow could. Lightning's attention now landed at the scythe user. "You all heard the kid. We read the stories. l'Cie who complete their focus became a crystal and gain eternal life. Same applies with Serah. She's still alive. Just…" His words died down. It was that part that would not reassured the former GC.

"Yeah, she still alive! She's not dead!" Snow concluded for him.

That didn't convince many, even Sazh and Ariel.

Snow walked up to Lightning. "Serah's is my bride to be" he told her. "I promised to be her forever. I don't care how many years I have to wait -"

The former soldier swung a haymaker at the NORA leader, knocking him down to the floor on his back. She had it enough with this stubborn blond. "It's over! Open your eyes and face reality!" She pointed at the crystallized Serah.

Snow won't believe her. He strongly believed that Serah will eventually return from the crystal stasis. Then they will be together forever.

Still, the first punch from Lightning hurted. Sure, he was hit with heavier punches, but this one struck down to his soul.

Vanille kept an eye on Serah. Her mind recalled to the time where she met her. One question came into her mine

_Serah… does becoming a l'Cie mean losing everything?_

Suddenly, the Vestige shook. Explosions rocked the structure, causing debris to fly and fall. Hope began cowering down into a ball, seeking safety.

Sazh and Cade did the same with Ariel and Vanille. Snow and Lightning, meanwhile, were shielding Serah was the debris. Although there was nothing heavy falling on them, it was kind of stupid to Cade's perspective. Not many things can damage a crystallized l'Cie.

"What now?!" Vanille looked around, panicking.

"The army!" Sazh mentioned. They were so caught up in the moment, they forgot that PSICOM will be destroying the Vestige regardless of whoever was inside.

Above, they could see rubber tubes piercing through the wall and hooked against it. Each time they shot through, the more violent the rumble became

"What's happening?!" Vanille asked.

"Must be a Sanctum strike!" Sazh replied

"They must have made their move!" Cade said "They are trying to bring the Vestige down along with the fal'Cie!"

"Aren't they taking us to Pulse?!" Vanille asked again "That's what the Purge is all about, right?!"

"They don't care about that, Vanille!" Cade replied "They wanted us gone! Dead or alive doesn't matter! Don't you think they would not shoot the other deportees if they were supposed to bring us there?!"

At this, Vanille shut up. She wasn't going home, and won't be anytime soon. The Purge was a lie in the first place.

"We can't stay here!" Hope cried, holding onto Vanille's arm tightly in fear "They'll kill us!"

The shaking died down, giving the group a moment of respite. As they recovered, a sound came from the stairs behind Serah. A door, which was blocked by a Pulse insignia, was now wide open.

All of them knew what was in there: the Pulse fal'Cie itself.

Snow thought to himself. If it was meant to save Serah, he would make the deal with the devil himself.

He grasped Serah's hand. "I'll be right back" he whispered, promising to Serah. "Hold on" He then walked up the stairs, determined to do this for her.

"Hey trench-coat" Sazh called out. "Where're you goin'?"

Snow turned back and looked at the pilot "Date with the fal'Cie. Got something to talk about"

"What? You're gonna ask that thing to help her out?!" Sazh yelled. This trench coat blond was insane. "Are you outta your mind, kid?! That thing wanted to chew us up and spit us out"

"Well what do you want me to do?!" Snow asked furiously.

Sazh was then left speechless.

Lightning walked up the stairs, but had an agenda of her own. She went first, ignoring everyone, even when Snow called her.

Sazh sighed. He pulled out his handguns. "Here we go"

Cade turned around to the three kids. Ariel stood there, then followed Sazh. Vanille, meanwhile was looking at Hope, who was holding her hand and cowering behind her. The scythe user smirked. "Vanille. Since where did you get a boyfriend?"

Vanille blushed, soon brushed Hope's hand off.

"Come on, you two" Cade insisted. "Let's go"

They walked up the stairs, and made their way toward the fal'Cie. One that will soon put them on a path. Well, at least, those that were yet to be put on, that is.

* * *

The path to the fal'Cie was lightly guarded. Just lines of Cie'th matching towards them. Snow and Lightning just spearheaded through as the rest try to catch up.

Soon they arrived at the room where the fal'Cie was in. It was dark, but one can still make out a massive metallic structure in front of them. Inscripted just above was the fal'Cie's title: _Anima, protectress and overseer of Oerba_

"So this is..." Hope spoke "The fal'Cie" It was the fal'Cie. Right now, it seemed to be hurdled in its shells, inactive as if dead.

Snow was the first to act. "Serah's a crystal now" he pleaded, pointing at the fal'Cie. "You gave her a Focus, and she did it! You got want you want! Now let her go!" He was met with silence. He sank down onto his knee, begging, crying. "Please… Turn her back… I'll be your l'Cie instead!"

Anima gave no response regardless of his offer.

Lightning had had it enough. "Fine. You go on begging" She brandished her gunblade and walked up to the shell. "Like this thing gives a damn about what we want!" She started striking it, causing sparks to fly, but not a single scratch were made. Still, she had yet to surrender.

"Lightning!" Snow called.

"It's this thing's fault the Purge started, and it's people who are dying" Lightning kept attacking relentlessly. "Serah told us to save Cocoon. That means this thing needs to die."

Suddenly, bridge yellow light flooded the room, blinding all of them as it just came out of the dimly lit room. Cogs started to spin. Pistons were shooting. Steam engines began to revved. Anima's shell split apart. Her manipulator arms connected to the ceiling about. With the shell now gone, and their eyes adjusted, they can now see Anima in its offensive form. Little could be describe about it, but the most notable were the two arms from the ceiling, and what presumed to be the core, judging from the large lavender crystal formation that sprout out of it.

Lightning, Cade and Ariel brandish their weapons, and in Snow's case, made a fist. Hope was an exception, however. He had it enough already. The last thing he wanted was to be branded a l'Cie. He ran out, but crashed into a barrier that was formed, keeping them in. Vanille ran after him shortly, wanting to run away, but now they can't

"Come on, now" Sazh said to Lightning. "You really think you can kill a fal'Cie"

"Actually, mate, you can" Cade answered, twirling his scythe into combat position.

Lightning wasn't smiling, but was happy to hear that it was possible kill one of these damn things. "I'm doing this for Serah!"

Snow had the same thing in mind as well. On his trench coat, the picture of a bear's roaring head was printed on it, showing that his Wild Bear AMP was now activated.

Sazh looked down, recalling to his son. "Dajh…"

"Come on, dad" Ariel encouraged him, drawing an arrow with her Woodlander "Let's do this for him!"

His Chocobo then chirped. "You're right" Sazh was now filled with determination. "I'm in! As long as you don't mind amateurs." he pulled out his Vega 42's. "I got these things, might as well use 'em." He stepped up to the plate, joining the upcoming fight.

"Thanks" Lightning appreciated. Sazh might have been more of a burden through the journey, but if he wanted to help, might as well.

Anima made its first move. Its manipulators spun and drilled into the ground. Snow, who decided to rush towards the core first, was hit straight out of the gate.

"Take those arms out!" Lightning shouted, retreating from the left manipulator's attack. "We won't be closing in if it is still there!"

Cade rushed in towards the right manipulator, and jumped into the air. He sliced it three times before backing out. Lightning followed up with two of her strikes while Sazh concentrated his fire on whatever the former soldier decided to hit. Snow, meanwhile, was punching the left one, with Ariel giving him covering fire, breaking it piece by piece.

Soon, the manipulators broke. Anima's body was now exposed, but the crystal seemed to shine brighter. Pieces of metal of the manipulators began to reform.

"It's regenerating its arms!" Ariel pointed out.

"Just focus on the core!" Lighting ordered, striking the core with the Gladius this time.

All firepower they had were poured into the core. Each strikes slowly from cracks on the crystal. Sooner or later, this crystal will break, and undoubtedly taking out Anima with it.

The manipulator arms returned, and struck at those closing in. Snow backed away before returning to punch the arms. "Come on! Just a few more hits should do it!"

On Lightning's side, Cade and Lightning rushed forward. Metal against metal, the damage stacked and soon broke the arms apart. Sazh turned to shoot the left one. His bullets made theirs mark, destroying it.

"Now!" Lightning yelled.

All of the fighting members targeted the core. The damage to the fal'Cie became critical. Soon in gave out… but not without a parting gift.

A bright light flashed before all of them, and they disappeared.

* * *

Lightning felt weightless. There were no floors, no ceilings. There was nothing. "Where are we?"

"What's goin' on?" Snow asked.

Each one of them were still recovering from the flash. They heard bells tolling. The lighting in this place seemed to resonate along with its chime. Sounds of machine moving were also there, and soon they saw it before their eyes.

It was Anima in its true form. Aside from its face, there was nothing that resembled Humans at all

From its body, energy whips lashed out and wrapped around all of them, restraining them. Tried as they might, there were not strong enough to break it. Then, ball of energy were shot, and hit each people in different places.

Lightning at her breast.

Sazh at his own chest

Hope at his left wrist

Snow at his left arm.

Ariel at her right waist.

Vanille at her left thigh, although it was already there.

And finally, Cade, at the brand on his back.

The pain of being brand was so much that it knocked them out into unconsciousness. From there, they saw their Focus. For others, the Focus given to them was just a Focus, a vision. But to Cade, it was something else.

A memory of the Focus he, Fang, and Vanille had lost.

_Towers fell from its heavenly heights to the ground. A city in flames and ruins._

_Monsters of Pulse roamed the streets. Chaos and panic were everywhere._

_And most of all, the creature who scarred Cocoon stood_

_Ragnarok_

Then everything went dark.


	6. L'CIE TO THE LAST

**God... so many things to do. So little time.**

**Also, I might have to change the title soon. It's a bit... lame.**

* * *

Chapter 5 - L'CIE TO THE LAST

**Two days ago**

Bodhum was alive with festivities tonight. People gathered about on the beach, watching the firework. Everyone were having fun time.

Yuj walked past the crowd, holding bottles of drink - alcohol, most likely. His attention was usually drawn by the display of the firework, despite of his job in serving customers in the bar.

"The whole gang is here tonight! How'd that happened?"

"Don't know. Destiny?"

"More like dumb luck"

"Let's go find 'em"

Snow was walking into the NORA house. He bumped into two girls on the way in, greeting them shortly before walking up to the bar. He could hear their gossips as they went away from him.

"See ya around!"

"Do you know him?"

"No, But I want to!"

With the girls now out of his hearing range, Snow resumed to finding Lebreau. He needed to ask her if she had seen Serah.

As if she read the NORA leader's mind, Lebreau informed him, "Oh, you _just _missed her. She said she'd be at the 'usual' place" She gave him a wink.

"Thanks" Snow appreciated, scratching the back of his head before leaving.

Lebreau now turned attention to the customer she was attending. This customer was a woman. She had dark skin tone and raven colored hair. Her dress was really out of place, colored in blue. Her left should also had a tattoo of a beast's skull. "Sorry about that. Now, who did you say you were looking for?"

Before answering, the woman swirled the glass and then took a sip from her drink.

* * *

Outside, Snow looked up to the fireworks. He remembered that this was the wish-making one. He pumped his fists together wishing one thing. He then left in other direction, toward Serah's 'usual' place.

* * *

Alone, far from the others, Serah was making her wish. It had been eleven days since… since she became one of them. She thought about her wish. She wished...

"Makin' a wish?"

Serah was snapped out of her trance, hearing that voice. Looking to her side, she saw Snow standing there, tall and handsome.

She nodded. "Yeah, maybe I was" she replied. Her hands gripped onto the railing. "I was hoping that tomorrow I can tell my sister"

Snow looked at the wrap on her arm. That was where her brand was when she showed him some days ago. He hummed deeply. Serah, a Pulse l'Cie, was going to tell Lightning, a Guardian Corps, about what had became of her. It was shocking when Serah told him about it, yet he loved her regardless. But with Lightning…

"She'll be mad, knowing I hid it from her." Serah continued. She was beginning to worry.

"Don't worry" Snow reassured her. "I'll take the blame for you"

This brought Serah to smile. "Thanks"

"You know, you should ask for something bigger" Snow suggested.

"How so?" Serah asked.

"These are wish-granting fireworks, like in the stories" Snow explained, giving her a smile.

Serah blushed. Her hand rubbed over the wrap. "Stories, huh?"

Silence fell upon them, but not in the awkward way. It was a short while before Serah broke it.

"L'Cie who fulfilled their Focus - they become crystal and gained eternal life" she said.

"Would help if they gave some clues about what you're supposed to do" Snow wondered. He heards Serah sighed. She must've thought of the same thing. He gently grasped her shoulders. "We'll figure this thing out. You will never be one of those monsters."

Serah pushed Snow's arms away. "So what will I be? A c-crystal?" she cried out, turning around so that he won't see her tears. She wiped them off hastily as Snow put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. He was such a caring person. Perfect in her heard. What did she do to deserve to have this man as her love?

Snow dug his hand into his pocket. "Yesterday at a store, I got us something" He brought out the pendants, showing it to Serah. The pendants hanging from the chain were identical. They were in the shape of Cocoon with a spiral of silver around the bottom. On the top was the scar of Cocoon's shell, just like the real thing. "Don't know much about jewellery, but... I hope you like it"

"I don't like it, I love it" Serah admitted. She pulled the tall blond in for a hug. Then she turned her back to him. "Put it on me?"

Snow obliged her request, and put the pendant on her. He then put on his own. While Serah was inspecting the beauty of the pendant, Snow knelt down on one knee. This confused her. Was he...?

"I will stand by you, no matter what happens. I'm yours forever"

Serah covered her mouth. No way… He was…!

"Serah. My one, my only… Will you marry me?"

One word came from her mouth. "Yes!"

Snow jumped in the air. "She said yes!" He spoke out with joy, picking up Serah in her arms and spun around. The two then kissed each other. He had never felt this much happiness before in his entire life.

-0-

Snow, with Serah on the backseat, flew up in the air using NORA's hoverbike toward the fireworks. The younger Farron leaned against him, feeling the warmth radiating from the NORA leader. It made her exhale out in content.

"Gotta love these fireworks" Snow implied, looking at Serah happily "They granted my wish"

"Your wish?" Serah asked.

"Before I asked you to marry me, I wish that you would say yes" Snow explained.

Serah nodded, feeling hopeful. "Then, maybe they'll grant mine too."

"What's that?" Snow asked.

"To have courage the courage to tell Lightning… that I've become a l'Cie"

"Hey, our engagement is way bigger news!" Snow exclaimed. He was just as he always was. A man with one-track mind. "Oh man, I can't wait to see her face… She'll be my new sister"

* * *

Somewhere on the beach, still on her guard duty, a certain pink haired GC sneezed. She always had this urge, but somehow, she really wanted to punch that blond with all her might.

* * *

"Yeah" Serah giggled. She was aware of the bad relationship between her sister and her fiance. It was ironic. The person her sister hated was the one she loved.

The hoverbike entered the barrier. They were now among the fireworks. The beauty in here was a lot more different that watching from the beach of Bodhum. The two were awed by the colors of lights everywhere.

"Oh." Serah breathed, turning to Snow. "Hey, Snow?"

"Yeah?"

The two slowly moved closer, their lips about to meet…

_BANG!_

"What the!" Snow immediately steered the hoverbike away and out of the barrier. A firework just went off near them. "That was close"

Serah giggled. It was just the two of them up here, all alone, watching the fireworks from another perspective. "Gorgeous" she said "Our own private heaven"

"All we need" Snow agreed "Just you and me"

Without any interruptions this time, the two connected their lips. It was a perfect form of harmony. The two were a match, just like their pendants. They were meant to be together.

If she completed her Focus, and turned into crystal, how would they cope without each other?

In tears, she broke her lip away from Snow. They were now much closer than before. As Snow drove back to land in Bodhum, Serah told him…

"Thank you, Snow"

* * *

**Present day**

"Serah!" Snow was the first to wake up, shooting his hand out as if his love was there to grab. Grasping nothing, he slowly sat up, hearing the rest getting up as well.

They looked around and was surprised by the sight. It was completely alien. All around them were light blue crystal. Its formation was in form of water waves. In a distance away stood the Bodhum Vestige, crystalized as well.

"Is this - for real?" Snow asked, wondering if this was still a dream.

"This must be… Lake Bresha" Sazh pointed out. He looked up to the green lights in the 'sky' "I guess we fell from up there, and the lake turned into crystal?" He looked at the others. "Help me out here! I mean, did the fal'Cie do this? How in the world did we end up here?!"

"How should I know?" Lightning replied, as confused as he was.

"No clue here, mate" Cade said.

Vanille fell on her knee. "We're alive." she gasped "How?"

"Serah!" All turned to Snow who shouted his lover's name, "No one survived the fall from that high, not without a miracle! Serah saved us!"

"Serah?" Lightning walked up to Snow with anger. She pointed at him. "Listen, it's your fault she got -"

"Behind you!" Ariel shouted and shot an arrow toward a Cie'th that was creeping up on them. However, in her panic, she missed the mark, the arrow grazing off its crystal skin.

Snow turned toward the Cie'th. He was preparing to punch the Cie'th when his hand suddenly glowed ice blue. He felt the chilling cold within his palm. He punched the Cie'th, and shard of ice pierced into it, resending it flying before it landed with a crunch. The Cie'th shattered, then the ice melted away just as fast as it was created.

"What did I... just do?" Snow gasped. He only had AMP, not Manadrive. He looked at his left arm, finding his brand there and it was glowing blue.

"You use magic!" Hope shouted, realizing what he just did "You used the power of a l'Cie!"

The rest had yet to come. More Cie'th marched towards them.

"The fal'Cie cursed us! We're l'Cie now!" Hope finished, his eyes targeting at Snow as if this was his fault he got roped into this - which technically, it was.

Although surrounded, the power of I'Cie gave them more strength and stamina than before. The Cie'th, despite being stronger variants, didn't stood a chance against eight of them. Once all of them were shattered into nothing but dust, they gave themselves a short rest.

Snow's eyes kept staring at his brand "So we really are l'Cie"

Sazh looked down, seeing half of the brand exposed from his shirt "Looks like it" He turned to his daughter.

"Me too…" Ariel lifted her shirt up, revealing the brand on her left waist.

"You too?" Snow asked Vanille.

"Yep." Vanille nodded, lifting the left side of her skirt, revealing her brand. "Right here"

Lightning's hand palmed over her chest area. She could feel the uneven layer on her skin, an imprint of the brand.

"What about you?" Snow asked Cade.

Cade turned around, his left hand rubbed the area just behind the collar. "It's on the back of my shirt, mate"

Snow walked up and had a look. He then lifted his eyebrow upon his discovery. While the others got black brand with just patterns of lines, Cade had white scarred one, and it seemed to be far more developed than the rest. "What?"

"Don't bother ask" Cade replied, recalling that he just woke up with it being like that. Pretty much like Fang. "We're all l'Cie anyway."

Snow thought about it, but decided to keep it to himself. They were all on the same boat regardless of what kind of brand they got "Right"

"L'Cie to the last" Lightning announced, making it dreadfully official. Even with her cold and solid attitude, she was still trying to come to the terms with that they had become.

They were all l'Cie.

Hope meanwhile sank to his knees. His brand was visible on his left wrist, half hidden by his glove. It was too much for him. His mother was gone, and now this. His life. His everything…

"Why me!?" He looked up to Lightning on his left. "I don't even know you! But you have to go and attack that thing!?" His eyes moved to Sazh, Cade, Ariel, and lastly Snow. They were filled with rage and sadness. He was struggling to create the sentence."Just leave me alone! It's your fault… It's your fault my… you could've…" Finally, he found one. He looked at the NORA leader. "All of this is yours and Serah's fault!" he yelled.

"Watch it!" Snow lashed out, causing Hope to fell to the ground. Snow would accepted that the blame was his, but Serah wasn't to blame, yet this kid accused her for this.

Hope retreated until he touched someone. Looking up, he saw Lightning with a disapproving look. The boy then crawled away from her, fearing her wrath.

Snow sighed. He shouldn't have lashed out on this kid. "Sorry" he apologized.

Vanille knelt down and pulled Hope up from the ground. "Everything will be alright. You'll see" she said with her cheery voice and smile. "Come on. Off we go" She then dragged Hope to an opening between the crystal walls.

Cade shrugged. "Come on. Let's get out of here"

He was right. They have to move. Although Lightning stayed behind a little while, she soon caught up with the rest.

* * *

Cade came up to Vanille. "Hey Vanille, we need to talk. Alone."

Vanille nodded. They then went ahead, away from the rest of the group. Sure that they were out of the hearing range, the scythe user began his questionnaire.

"Have you seen Fang by any chance?"

Vanille frowned and shook her head. "No." She answered, her hands can be seen tightening. "Not since we split up at Euride Gorge energy plant"

Cade sighed. "I see. I'm sure she still out there somewhere, looking for us" he said "I mean, if I got out, so can she, right?"

"Right" Vanille smiled.

Cade went on. "Now, with that out of the way… I need to see your brand" He knelt down and lifted her skirt up, inspecting the brand. He gave out a sigh of relief. "Well, you still have time, that's the good news" he noted. "I was worried you're going to be Cie'th in the next day or something" He let the skirt flowed back down, and stood up. "Let's get going, shall we?"

"Right" Vanille nodded, becoming her happy little girl self.

The two returned to the group, and continued their journey.

* * *

Snow let out a long sigh. He looked at his brand. "L'Cie, huh?"

"Yeah" Sazh sighed too "We're playing on team Pulse now. Why me?"

Ariel didn't add anything, but it was clear that they both thought about Dajh and how would he react when he found out they were now his enemies.

They came to a stop on a trussway buried within the crystal. Hope seemed to be kicking dust at the moment, while Vanille was trying to cheer him up. Snow looked around and asked, "Where's sis?"

"I'm not your sister" Lightning spat, walking down to them. Not in a million years, she would add.

"Trust the soldier to keep her cool in this mess" Sazh commented.

Snow cracked a smile. "It's kinda what she does best"

As the kids went about with themselves, the adults started their discussion. "Okay" Lightning began "If we don't know our Focus… how do we complete it"

"I think… I saw it" Vanille mentioned. She already knew what _it _was.

"Saw what?" Lightning asked.

Vanille didn't answer, so Sazh nudged in. "That, is how a Focus comes down, people" he explained "The fal'Cie? They don't spell it out with clear-cut instructions. All you get is a hazy glimpse"

All of them glared at him, as if he was a spy or something.

"Well, that's what they say. You know, legends and all" Sazh clarified, a bit frightened by their squinting eyes "Legends"

Lightning turned to Hope. "Did you see anything?"

Hope tried to answer the best he could. "I uh - I just… It's all kinda foggy, but… I saw -"

"Big, towering creature?" Ariel assumed.

Now Sazh was startled. He had a bad feeling about this. "Wait a minute. Hold on now. Did we _all _have a same dream?"

There was one solid answer, one out of grimace and horror. One that spelt out total annihilation. "Ragnarok"

At that word, Cade felt a zapping pain on his back, direct at where his brand was. It was like someone just pour acid over him. He doubled over with a gasp of pain, catching the attention of others.

Regardless, they returned to the original issue. "So… we all had the same dream" Sazh finalized "We all heard that same voice"

"You mean, that was our Focus?" Hope asked, now beginning to worry "But, how are we know what are we supposed to so from that?"

"That's the tricky part" Vanille now took the floor "The dream's the only hint the fal'Cie gave us. Figuring out what to do with it… that's our job"

"Great. They were too lazy to even tell us about what our job is." Ariel complained

"Okay, okay..." Sazh now tried to piece it together "We're Pulse l'Cie, right? Enemies o' Cocoon. Does that mean our focus is -? Are we supposed to -?"

"Save her"

All eyes turned to Snow. "Say what?" Sazh asked.

The NORA leader walked as if he took the stage. "Our Focus is to _protect _Cocoon"

"Really?" Cade and Vanille said at the same time. They looked at each other before Cade let Vanille continued. "Okay, and why's that?"

"Serah told us" Snow explained "Let's do it. We're all in this together" He then turned around, about to go forward. "I'm gonna look for Serah. She ought to be nearby" And then he ran off.

"I'll come too!" Vanille called out and ran after the blond.

"Vanille, wait!" Cade shouted, now sprinting after the redhead.

Sazh sighed. "Geez, that boy can't stay still" He then jogged away.

Ariel didn't said anything and joined Sazh in catching up with the others.

"Really…" Hope groaned. He walked a few steps before looking at the former GC. She just stared away in a distance ignoring everything. Seeing no point to call her, he left.

It was a full minute before she decided to go after them.

* * *

"This might just work" Snow said as he looked at his brand. "Magic maybe cursed, but it makes us stronger, doesn't it? What's stopping us from putting it to good use?"

"What'cha talkin' about, trench-coat?" Sazh asked, being sceptic.

"We fight it! Ragnarok!" Snow explained to them, jumping off a crystal mount "That's the reason why we're l'Cie. To stop it - keep Cocoon safe!"

Sazh didn't buy it. "Yeah, why don't you give us one good reason to believe that?" He raised one finger for emphasis "One reason"

The answer was simple. "Serah"

And none of them, not even Lightning, were buying it.

Snow continued. "She said to protect Cocoon, and then she turned to crystal. That's our proof right there. She completed her Focus! That means ours is to save Cocoon. Serah's fal'Cie is the same as ours. Our Focus had gotta be the same. We were chosen to be guardian, to defeat Ragnarok. It makes sense!"

"Mate… Ragnarok is Pulsian in origin" Cade reminded the NORA leader. "It broke Cocoon's shell during the War of Transgression. And we were branded by a Pulse fal'Cie. Why would it want its strongest of Cocoon's enemies destroyed?"

"Yeah, you're graspin' straws, son!" Sazh agreed with Cade. "Pulse fal'Cie are Cocoon's enemies. We just got recruited by one o' them"

"And who knows" Ariel added "Serah's Focus might be something else. Only she knew since you two,..." She pointed at Snow and Lightning "...who seemed to be the closest to her, don't know about it"

Sazh walked up to Snow. "If I were a bettin' man... I'd put us on the other side"

Snow frowned. "So Serah's an enemy too?" he protested. His strong belief in Serah held firm. "Well I don't buy it!" He turned to Lightning. "We have the power to save Cocoon. If we work together and carry out our Focus -"

Lightning turned to the blond with a death stare. Her gunblade touched his neck, sharp end at his flesh and skin. "Our Focus?" she spat at the so-called hero "The fal'Cie took Serah from us, and you want to help it? Whose side are you on?"

"Freeze!"

All of them turned and saw a squad of PSICOM soldiers. They were all armed and pointed their guns at them. There were even some flanking them.

"Place your hands behind your head!" one of them instructed.

Most of the gang obliged. Lightning also did, dropping her Blazefire Saber to the floor. Cade was the last, his hands yet to go up.

"That mean you to, grey hair!" shouted the one behind them.

Cade spat at the ground, and then did as they said.

One of them, the leader perhaps, walked up with his gun behind his head. "You fall off the Purge train?" he asked tauntingly

"Maybe" Lightning said seductively.

"Are you talking back to me?!" The soldier shouted, aimed the gun point blank from her chin. "Huh!? Huh!?"

Lightning chuckled. "Nice gun" Just as she planned. In fluid movement, she disarmed the soldier, flipped him into the air, and sent him back to the other soldiers with a strong kick. The soldiers retaliated, closing in. All of the l'Cie readied themselves for the fight.

And it didn't take long. In less than a minute, the soldiers were out of the fight. They weren't much of a difficulty at all.

"I thought they'd be tougher than that" Sazh commented, kneeling over a body. He waved his hand above the helmet. "These guys are PSICOM, yeah? Supposed to be cream-o'-the-crop"

Beside him, Vanille was on her knees. Her indexes and pinkies crossed with each other, forming a diamond shape. To Cade, he knew she was praying.

"Yeah, but PSICOM are anti-Pulse task force." Snow informed them "Haven't fought a war in centuries. Bunch of rookie troops swingin' around overpriced toys."

As this conversation was going on, Hope was looking away from the body. He was still young and afraid of death after all. And this was his first fight with fellow humans as well.

Sazh then stood up "So, from what you're tellin' me, it sounds like a regular ol' soldier has more training than special forces"

"Nothin' for us l'Cie to be afraid of" Snow shrugged.

Cade snickered. "Yeah, they're not that tough all right."

"Cut the crap!" Lightning cut in. "Their grunts might be green, but PSICOM elites are cold-blooded beasts. They hit the field and it's game over"

Cade knew she was right. The elites were very tough. He almost didn't make it out from Euride Gorge energy plant because of them. He got separated with Fang because of them

"Oh-oh" Everyone turned to Vanille. "Then let's run away! Ciao!" And with that, she ran.

"Vanille, wait for me!" Cade went after her.

"Hey, wait!" Sazh called out to them, but they didn't come back. The Chocobo flew out and landed on his palm as the pilot sighed. "What's a man to do?"

"Dad, is that the Chocobo for…" Ariel asked.

Sazh nodded, keeping quiet.

"Does he have a name?" his daughter inquired..

"Oh, not yet" Sazh answered "He's got to be the one naming him" He then put the chick back into his hair and followed the first two with Ariel tagging along.

Snow followed the others, but turned to Lightning. She was looking at anything but him. He then left the scene, leaving Hope once again behind with her. Before the boy could say anything, Lightning told him…

"Go ahead. I'll catch up" With that, Hope went ahead, following the rest.

Meanwhile, Lightning was deep in thoughts. There was something about that boy when it came to Snow. First was how he hesitated to go with Snow, and second was how he blamed Snow for everything.

What did Snow do to set him off in the first place?

She decided. She should keep an eye on the kid for now.

* * *

They kept on walking, fighting some Cie'th along the way. It made them wonder if there were others who survived the fall, but for now, there was no times for questions. So far, they had seen only metals and crystals. Heck, even fire were turned into crystal, shining brightly like an ember.

With the group now walking together, Snow started, "It's weird isn't it. Of all the messed up way we meet…"

"Not very ideal, isn't it, mate?" Cade added.

"Might as well just make introductions" Snow continued "I'm Snow - Snow Villiers" He then turned to Hope "Short stuff?"

The boy was reluctant to say it, but decided against it anyway. "Hope. Hope Estheim"

"What about her?" Vanille asked, pointing at Lightning, who had been silent for the most of the walk.

"Bodhum Security Regiment" Snow answered. "Goes by 'Lightning'. Last name's Farron"

"Her first name?" Ariel questioned.

"That's anybody's guess" Snow replied. Only Serah knew her real name.

"Well, I'm Cade" Cade said.

"I'm Vanille" Vanille spoke out happily.

"Sazh Katzroy, and -" Sazh said, but was cut in by his adopted daughter.

"I'm Ariel Katzroy. Nice to meet you" Ariel smiled, waiting for a handshake.

* * *

Sazh watched as Vanille, Ariel, and Hope walked, with the redhead giggling, his daughter smiling at the beauty of the scenery, and the boy being dragged along by the redhead.

"It's not right" he said "Why'd kids have to get dragged into this?"

"I'll keep the kids out of trouble" Snow promised.

Sazh seemed to have snickered "Problem with that is, you're one of them"

"Hey!" Snow said. That was uncalled for.

Lightning and Cade walked up to the two, stopping to listening into their conversation

"Tryin' to take on the Pulse fal'Cie, that was our first mistake" Sazh said "Shoulda left that to Sanctum" The NORA members looked at him. "Why not? I mean, we've counted on the Sanctum fal'Cie for food, water… everything we need since the time we were born"

"But you still help us do it" Snow mentioned. He saw Sazh grinned. "Why's that? Gotta be somethin'."

Sazh nodded. His mood, however, swung. "There might have been… Not sure anymore" He then went after the three kids. Snow then followed to catch up with the others. Lightning and Cade then continued along with them.

* * *

They came to an opening, where Cade, Lightning, and Sazh saw something familiar. The front half of the Purge train embedded in crystal. Each carriage seemed to be mostly in one piece.

"The train fell too" Vanille noted "I wonder what else is down here"

The three had a bad feeling about this.

Snow, who was taking point, spotted something. It was a crystalline statue of a female figure resting on a crystal bed. She was very beautiful. Her hands cradled her chest. She looked very familiar as well.

Then it hit him and Lightning. "Serah…"

"Serah!" the NORA leader yelled, running up to his crystallized love. He grabbed her hand, looking at her face. It was really her, just like before. "Serah, I'll get you outta there" He proceeded to grab a large piece of metal and used it as an improvised pick to dig his lover out.

"I'll help you!" Vanille came to aid with a smaller piece of metal. She knelt down and started digging.

"Thanks!" Snow appreciated. Sazh and Ariel also acquired themselves some metal sticks and joined the digging. Even Hope decided to help despite of having a grudge against the blond. Cade and Lightning stayed back and watched the others picking the crystal ground. The former knew how fruitless it will be without proper tools, while the latter was in deep thought.

The older Farron looked at her sister, now trapped in crystal… probably forever. Others that were digging were ignored by her, as if they weren't there. Rampants of emotion boiled within her: sadness for losing her, anger for not being able to save her, and regret of abandoning her in the first place.

Would Serah wanted them to stay and help digging her out? Would she wanted them to run and save themselves? The crystal was almost indestructible. No weapons of mankind could scratch it.

She kept the pain to herself. She wouldn't want to do it, but she was sure Serah wanted them to do this.

She would've want them to leave her behind.

"This is goodbye" she said and turned away. There was no point staying here.

Snow heard a footstep walking away. He looked at Lightning, who already had her back turned from her own sister. "Lightning?"

"PSICOM will be here soon" Lightning explained, not turning back "If they find us here, we're all dead. You think Serah would want that? You think you know how she feels?"

Cade saw the point. After they fought the fal'Cie at Euride Gorge, it took him and Fang to get Vanille out of there, and he lost Fang when he got out. It was unknown whether she's alive or not, but he knew she was a die hard kind of woman. She was still somewhere out there, he was sure of it.

"If I leave her, then I'll never know" Snow said. He refused to leave Serah. He had made a promised to her. He will protect her. "We'll be fine. I can handle anything they throw at us. No one will die. I'll protect Serah _and _Cocoon"

It hit her button. Seething, Lightning marched up to Snow and threw a fist at him, causing him to fall over Sazh. This idiot still believed that after all that happened? "Does she look _protected _to you?!" She yelled.

"I can save her!" Snow got up immediately, only to get punched back down again.

"What can you possibly do?!" Lightning dared to ask him.

"Whatever it takes!" Snow answered, his eyes filled with determination.

Lightning wanted to hit the blond idiot again, but she lowered her shaking fist. Nothing she do will change this idiot's mind.

Sazh sighed, walking out. "You two are hopeless" he said, dropping the metal piece he had. He leaned against an embedded carriage. "You just can't admit it" he addressed Lightning, gesturing to Snow who had resumed digging "You want to stay as much as he does"

Cade then heard a sound. He couldn't forget that sound. He turned around and faced the emitter of that noise. "Shit! Lightning, Sazh! It's back!"

Sazh looked at what Cade was looking at. The Manasvin Warmech, battered but not broken beyond functionality, was on a carriage, training its spotlight on him. "No… no! No, no, no, no, not now!" He panicked and ran back to the group.

"What the…!" Lightning looked at the Warmech. It was missing its arms, and there were signs of impact damages on its hull. But clearly, those weren't enough to put it down. She immediately unfolded her Blazefire Saber, preparing to protect Serah at all cost.

"What the hell is that?!" Ariel asked, pulling out her Woodlander

"Manasvin Warmech" Lightning explained "PSICOM annihilator. One of their prized warmachines"

The Warmech hopped over and landed in front of their only exit, the one Hope was running for. The young boy was forced to retreat with a scream.

"Stand back!" Snow shouted. Sazh, Hope, and Ariel stayed behind. For the old man, he didn't want to fight that thing again.

Snow, Lightning, Cade, and Vanille got ready to fight. This will be a tough one if this thing survived its defeat once.

Snow and Vanille started casing elemental spells at the Manasvin Warmech as Cade and Lightning charged in with their melee weapons. Every hit they made, it seemed to hit harder, and caused the Warmech to shift from its ground more and more. However, the Warmech was also relentless. Its attack was a devastating, they were getting caught in the blast often.

"Snow! Get its attention!" Cade shouted, rubbing over his bruise wound on his shoulder

"How?!" Snow asked. He had been throwing spells and punches, but the Warmech seemed to focus on Cade and Lightning solely.

"Think about provoking it to come to you and do it!" Cade instructed.

Snow shook his head a bit. How would that work? But then again, this l'Cie magic were new to all of them. He did used the ice spell for the first time without knowing back then. Might as well try. "Here goes nothing..."

With his thought, his body was suddenly surrounded by yellow aura. Knowledge of new magic spells came into his mind: Provoke and Steelguard. He knew the instructions, how to use it.

He took a deep breath, and shouted out. "Hey!"

Using Provoke, the Manasvin Warmech shifted its attention solely toward the blond. Its tail charged up an attack. Good. He had its attention. Snow used Steelguard, bringing his arms to a cross, blocking the strikes. Unlike the previous hits, these ones didn't phase or knocked him into the air.

"Vanille, patch everyone up!" Cade ordered.

Vanille nodded. Green aura appeared around her. She then sent balls of light blue magic towards the others. For every single Cure that was absorbed, the members felt soothed and rejuvenated, just like when they use a potion to heal themselves.

Cade channeled the power of water into the Blood Harvester. He then charged, and swung at the Warmech. It took damaged and was now staggered. "Alright! Everyone! Everything you got!" he shouted

The four assaulted the Warmech, hitting harder and harder as the damage stacked up. In the short time, the total damage was too severe. The Manasvin Warmech soon blew up into pieces, defeated once and for all.

With the situation calmed, the group turned to Cade. They had questions that needed answers. However, it was cut short when Lightning started stepping away from where Serah was.

"You're leaving?" Snow asked in disbelief still. How could a sister abandoned one of her own?

"We wanna help too" Sazh voiced his reason, planning to leave as well. He looked back at Serah "But without the proper tools… we could be digging for days" He walked up to Snow. "The army's on our trail. For now, we gotta keep movin'. For now"

"So I just abandon her, and save ourselves!?" Snow yelled.

"What about your Focus!?" Lightning argued. "What happened to banding together and saving the world?! Isn't that what you promised?!"

Snow couldn't form words to counter that. He did said all of that himself.

"Now you wanna forget it all and die right here?!" Lightning continued. She was met with silence. "Snow. You're nothing but talk"

She then proceeded to walk toward the path where the Warmech was blocking a few minutes ago.

Snow looked down on himself. He needed to prove her wrong. "Lightning!"

Lightning stopped, prepared to listen to whatever ramble the blond will give.

"I'll do whatever it takes" Snow declared "I'll finish this Focus… _and _keep Serah safe"

"Great job so far" Lightning replied coldly. And with that, she walked away, never looking back at either the group or her sister.

Sazh sighed. He moved up to Snow. "Stay outta trouble" The blond told him.  
"You too" The pilot agreed, clapping on Snow's shoulder before he left.

Ariel followed her father without question. She was aware that staying here would be suicide. Nothing good will come to them.

Vanille and Hope looked at Snow. He gestured at them, pointing his thumb down the path. "Get goin'."

The redhead walked up, looking at him in the eye. She wanted to stay and help, perhaps to redeem herself for what happened to Serah. However, like Lightning said, they had to leave before PSICOM closed in on them.

"Later" Snow waved to her.

"Okay" Vanille nodded and ran after them.

Hope meanwhile jogged a few steps before coming back to Snow. He wanted to say it so bad. "Snow…"

Seeing the boy struggling to form any words, he shook his head. "Save it for the next time, kiddo. You'll get left behind"

"But…"

"It's okay, Hope" Snow replied "Light'll take care of you" He thought that Hope wanted to stay behind and help as well, but that wasn't what the silver haired boy had in mind. "We'll meet again"

"Yeah" Hope nodded. "Count on it" He then departed from the man who got his mother killed.

Cade looked at Snow, shaking his head. Seeing that it was only just them now, he faced the blond. "Snow… I got nothing much to say, and nothing will change your mind, so I'm telling you this, mate" he said. "When a l'Cie is lost in their darkest hours, salvation will come. But whether you live or die depends whether if you pass its trials"

"What?" Snow was confused. What was this guy talking about?

"You'll know it soon enough. I know about l'Cie more than you think" Cade walked away. "Good luck, mate, because you'll need it." He was gone before Snow could ask anymore questions.

Alone, left behind by the others, Snow resumed his digging on his own, trying to free Serah's crystallized body. He won't abandon her, and he never will. He did promised her. He won't fail her again.

He never noticed Hope's piercing eyes on Snow before he left to join up with the rest.


	7. ESCAPING THE NET

Chapter 6 - ESCAPING THE NET

Lightning led the group, without Snow this time. Their main priority right now was to leave the area as soon and as far as possible before they were found. Although it pained most of them to leave him and crystallized Serah behind, it had to be done if they were to survive. Without the stubborn NORA leader, the group were much quieter than when he was there with them.

Sazh looked back at the path they took. While he disagreed about staying behind, he was worried about the guy they left behind. "I'm not happy with leaving him on his own, but we've got to keep moving" he spoke.

"Maybe we shouldn't have left him on his own" Vanille said with concern in her voice, and a hint of guilt.

"All we can do is pray he makes it out okay" Sazh replied.

"I hope he's okay" Ariel said.

Cade shrugged. If what he thought will happen to Snow happens, then there might be a chance. "He'll be fine alright. Tough guy like that won't go out easily"

Hope didn't think much about the blond, but if he were to survive, the next time they meet, Snow will get what he deserved.

They then came upon a large tube of a broken suspension bridge, presumably from the Hanging Edge. Its width was wide enough for one person. Below it was a chasm. Other than this tube, there was no other way across.

"We go this way" Lightning declared, and took the lead.

The others soon follow. Vanille went after the former GC, followed by Cade, Hope, Ariel, and Sazh. The pilot spoke out as he crossed over. "Okay, do not shake the slippery tube! We cool with this? Do not shake the slippery tube!"

Vanille giggled at Sazh's words. She even suggested he close his eyes when he crossed over, a suggestion that was outright refused by the pilot himself.

Soon, they came upon a blocked path. A blockade too tall to jump over stood across a bridge.

Vanille noticed the silence the boy was giving. "Still couldn't talk to him?" she asked. "You'll never get pass this if you don't say something"

"Words won't change anything" Hope answered. "But next time we meet, he'll learn exactly how I feel"

They kept on walking. Lightning took the front, not slowing down. Hope trailed behind her, Ariel shortly following him. Vanille skipped around and admired the scenery. At the rear, Sazh and Cade took point.

"Sazh" Cade asked "I wanna know. You're clearly a civilian. Where did you get those?" he pointed at the holstered Vega 42s.

"Oh these?" Sazh replied "It was given to me per regulation. All pilots must have them to defend themselves against wildlife if they crashed."

"You are a pretty good shooter for a pilot" Cade commented.

"Thank you" Sazh said.

Suddenly, Lightning stopped, catching everyone's attention. She slowly snuck up on to the edge of the cliff. The others followed behind silently, keeping a low profile. Their eyes met with a massive ship parked below, accompanied by several air patrols. PSICOM soldiers in different outfits marched out in formation before spreading out. These guys wore black and purple, unlike those in Hanging Edge that wore brown and orange. Whoever they were, these were not rookies like those they had met before.

"Now that's a lot of soldiers" Cade said, observing the movements below.

"They must be hunting down Purge survivors" Sazh spoke.

"I hope everyone made it out okay" Vanile wished.

"So do I" Sazh replied. "But nowhere is safe for them now." His hand slapped the crystal ground in frustration. "Dammit, just 'cause they shared a neighborhood with a fal'cie. They get treated like Pulse tainted rats."

Vanille looked down, not at the ship, but to herself. "People really hate Pulse, don't they?" she questioned.

"Not hate" Sazh answered, getting up. "More like fear. Tens and millions of people… all scared of Pulse boogeymen" He looked down at his brand. "They'll be… shaking every night in their bed if they knew that l'Cie like us were around"

"But they purged that entire town" Vanille recalled. Slight guilt fell upon her once she finished her sentence, but she tried her best not to show it.

"It's crazy, I know" Sazh replied "But the Sanctum fal'Cie did nothing to stop it. Up until now, Eden always stepped in to correct their errors and judgement."

"Guess we're not that important for them to help" Ariel spoke up. "They must've thought we're better off killing each other"

Hope, who had been sitting silently behind all of them, stood up. "L'Cie are not human" He said.

Cade heard that, and his hand made a fist. He would've punched the kid for that, but Vanille got to him first with her words. "Listen you, that's enough!" she shouted, grabbing his wrist where his brand was, forcing the silver haired boy to look at what he had now become. The two stared for a few seconds before splitting apart.

The redhead looked down and reflected on something, and then she stared up into the 'sky'. "We're still alive. That's something!" she claimed.

The others find what she had just said difficult to agree except for Cade. She was just being optimistic as she always had been.

Then there was a rumbling sound. A squadron of aircraft flew past in front of them before splitting up into different directions. Most of the group lost their balance except for Cade and Lightning.

"They're sealing off the area" the former GC said. "They're trying to trap the stragglers. We've got to get moving before we get caught in the net!"

Cade nodded. "You heard the soldier. Let's get out of here"

With haste, they departed from the cliff at full speed, not looking back.

* * *

They moved away from the landing site as far and fast as possible in the past few minutes. They stumbled across some air bridges that were caught within the crystal's grasps. They crossed over it, and began climbing up steep incline of crystal formation on the other side.

At its top, the group took a break, with Vanille admiring the view from here. "Whoa. This whole place is crystal" she said.

Lightning gazed into the distance, watching aircrafts flying in the distance towards the area they came from.

Sazh sighed after stretching. His eyes looked into the distance. "I wonder what it would be like. To become a crystal, I mean" Deep down, he wasn't thinking about himself. He was thinking about Dajh. What would it be like for him to be crystal? Will it be like sleeping after listening to a bedtime story?

Vanille turned around with a smile on her face. "Does that mean you're gonna complete your Focus?" she asked.

Sazh shrugged. "Maybe" he answered "If I knew what it was. You all probably don't wanna know"

That reminded them of their vision of Ragnarok. Something that dreaded them. Vanille then quickly changed the topic and asked Lightning, "Hey Lightning? Did Serah say anything to you about your Focus?"

Lightning looked down on herself. Her left hand was placed over her brand. "Nothing" she said with regret.

Vanille, again, quickly tried to be optimistic about this. "You know what," she spoke "She probably didn't want to worry you"

But Lightning knew the truth. Serah was worried about how her sister would react. That was the reason why she didn't know. "Or she just didn't think she could trust me," said the GC before walking away.

* * *

For minutes, they kept moving. They were then out of the crystallized lake, into an ancient ruin. Wreckages, both of the old and new, scattered about in this place. Crystalline flames erected around, but frozen.

"Wonder how old this place is" Cade said.

But of course, no rest for the wicked. This place was also crawling with PSICOM patrols. "Somebody must've called the reinforcements" Sazh assumed.

"Why wouldn't they, dad?" Ariel interjected "We've been fighting them for a while"

After a lot of walking and fighting, they soon arrived at the top of the ruins. Here, the sight of the crystallized flame was more beautiful. Vanille skipped around, taking in the view. Cade followed behind her closely, while Lightning stayed with the rest. "Stay close" She warned.

"I wanna look around!" Vanille said and giggled with joy.

Lightning couldn't help but sigh. This girl was just a bundle of joy. She… reminded her too much of Serah.

Cade suddenly stopped. His ear heard something from above, to the right, in the direction that Vanille was going. When he looked up, he saw a figure in the sky, and it was flying, coming for them. "Vanille! Above you!" he yelled.

Vanille stopped and looked up. She then screamed and came running back to Cade, who then ran back to the rest of the group. A massive winged bioweapon smashed into the crystal, shattering it. It then regained its flight and roared at the group, ready to fight.

"A Garuda Interceptor?!" Lightning shouted, drawing her gunblade.

The rest pulled out their weapons. "Know anything about it?!" Ariel asked.

"No!" Lightning replied "Guardian Corp doesn't have bioweapons. Not much reason to use one"

"Any ideas on its weaknesses?!" Sazh asked frantically.

"How should I know?!" Lightning answered.

Then Vanille shouted out. "Use Libra!"

Everyone except for Cade looked at her. "What?" they asked.

"Libra. One of l'Cie's techniques." Vanille explained. "It allows us to scan the target and identifies its strengths and weaknesses"

"How do we use that?" Hope asked. Much as he despised being a l'Cie, they needed that help.

"Watch and learn" Cade answered, and immediately casted Libra. Information about the Garuda Interceptor flooded into his and the rest of the parties' minds. "A lot of strength. No magic. Weakness to air spells. Hit it with all the air spells you got!"

Ariel immediately start shooting arrows. Sazh, Vanille, and Hope began casting Aero at the flying bioweapon while Cade and Lightning closed in. The latter two jumped high into the air and started slicing at it. The Garuda flinched as the air spells hit it over and over, and the assault made by Cade and Lightning left it no change to recover. Soon it staggered, and the flurries of hits and spells became harder and more severe. It then roared, and retreated, smashing through the crystal blocking the last stairway before stopping. The group followed and witnessed electricity flooding out of its mouth and launched across the area. They jumped out of the way of the lightning, before reforming their formations.

"It's charging up" Lightning noted the increase in power of the Garuda Interceptor.

"Charging for what?" Sazh asked.

"Its final moment" Cade summarized "We have to take it down now"

Sazh casted an Aero spell, but the ball of compressed wind hit something before it could impact the Garuda. "It got a barrier?!" he yelled "This is not good"

"What do we do now?!" Hope asked.

"Same as before!" Cade shouted, and resumed his attack. The rest followed suit. They didn't have much of an option at this point.

The Garuda gathered electricity, and then breathed it right onto Cade as he jumped up. There was no dodging that, and he was sent flying. Vanille immediately started healing him. "Are you okay?!" she asked.

"I've been worse," Cade replied, and then ran back into the fray. He leaped up into the air, and rejoined his assault with Lightning.

Ariel kept on shooting arrows at the Garuda, but she was growing tired of this. "Will you just go down already!" she yelled.

"Keep it up!" Lightning said "We almost had it!"

Cade made a running start, and then leaped up. However, instead of making a series of slices, he made one powerful overhead swing. The blade of his Blood Harvester impaled right into the Garuda's neck. Then he swung down using the scythe as a pivot, forcing the Garuda to face the ground. It lost flight and fell onto its back, the scythe dislodged before impact. But before it could regain its flight, Lightning charged in and stabbed her gunblade right into its torso, finishing it.

With the Garuda now defeated, the group took their time to gather their breaths. "That was exhausting," Ariel said, almost collapsing to the floor.

Lightning walked up to Cade. "How did you do it? The 'Libra'?"

Cade turned around. "Just… just think of trying to pry the information out of a person. It's a bit difficult to explain"

Lightning didn't comment on it and just took it in. It was suspicious of how he, and additionally Vanille, knew of the l'Cie's technique while the rest, including her, didn't despite being branded by the very same fal'Cie at the same time. But this technique proved useful. Might as well just take it. It could help them out in the future.

"Check it out!" Vanille suddenly called out, getting everyone's attention. Her finger pointed at a ship docked on a launching pad. It looked intact, perhaps a transport that the PSICOM that guarded this area left behind when they went on patrols.

Relieved that they had found an escape vehicle, and one he can commandeer, Sazh waved for the rest to come. "Come on. Let's get to it" he said.

Vanille admired the ship. "This will make things easier" she said.

"At least I could rest my feet now" Ariel said "All this walking and jumping is killing me"

Sazh seemed to disagree. "Knowin' our luck, it probably missin' an engine" he presumed.

"You shouldn't be so negative" Vanille lectured, being optimistic as ever.

"And you shouldn't get your hopes up" Sazh replied before walking off to check on the ship. It irritated the redhead girl, but she followed the pilot nonetheless.

Hope and Ariel followed the previous pair. This left Cade and Lightning, the latter seemed to be more alert than usual. "Something wrong?" Cade asked.

Lightning didn't answer. "Nothing. Let's just go" she replied and went after the others.

Cade sighed, but his grip on his scythe tightened. He knew she felt it. Something was off about this. About how a perfectly intact ship would be here.

But there was no time for questions. Their chance of escape was running out. Best leave now before they couldn't. Thus, he ran forward, and entered the ship along with the rest.

Perching from a broken pillar, a mechanical owl opened its wings, and left the scene.

* * *

Snow kept on digging. He wasn't sure how long he had been doing this. No one was counting. Small fragments of crystal could be seen breaking from every hit he made, but the progress was little to none. His improvised pick wasn't very efficient, he admitted. Yet, he kept on digging.

He thought to himself for every picking he made. Why was he so useless? He said he would save those deportees, but most of them ended up dead. He said he would save Serah, but she ended up turned into crystal in the end. And he couldn't do anything. Why couldn't he save anyone?

His thought was interrupted when he heard something fly by. PSICOM aircrafts were patrolling right above him. Spotlights were casting down from them. Snow shrugged it off and kept on digging.

"_Sweep team to base. L'Cie spotted. I repeat, l'Cie spotted. Pulse l'Cie confirmed"_

All lights now landed on the blond. Snow stopped digging and turned around. He looked up at three airships flying above him. "You're gonna lend me a hand or what?!" he yelled.

From the airships, three PSICOM squads dropped down using their anti-gravity grenades. They readied their weapons, preparing to apprehend the target.

"_Commencing clean-up protocol"_

Snow smirked. "Clean up? Let me help" He hurled the piece of metal in his hand towards the soldiers, taking two of them down. He then charged in, punching them along with casting spells. Each soldier fell left and right. Snow constantly changed targets. They won't get Serah. He will not let them have her. He won't be useless.

But despite how weak each soldier was, Snow was just one man, l'Cie or not. They just kept on coming, hitting and shooting at him. A bullet shot him in the knee from behind, forcing him to kneel for a moment. He turned around and ran up to the soldier and punched him out cold.

His breath began to rag as the fight went on. His limbs began to suffer fatigue. His strength was running out. He was on his hands and knees. His vision was getting dimmer, but he could still see PSICOM soldiers in front of him.

He began to curse at himself. Lightning was right. He was all talk. Nothing but talk. Nothing but words that he couldn't keep. Why was he so weak? Why was he so powerless? Why couldn't he save anyone? Why was he so useless?!

Suddenly, a light flared up from his brand. A blue sphere with strange markings appeared in front of him, causing the soldiers around him to back away in caution. It grew larger and larger until it exploded into pieces.

Coming out of the sphere were two feminine figures. First one looked dark, but her face was completely revealed. The other was the opposite in the color tone, but her eyes were hidden behind a visor. The back of their headdresses had a large wheel each, with the white one having it out hovering. Their apparel seemed to resembled to motorcycle parts, the front and the rear to be precise

The wheel spun, and was unleashed upon PSICOM soldiers. Strong icy wind blew at them like a storm, taking them all out in one fell swoop. Snow could only awed at the event that unfolded before him, his hand touching his brand.

"What's happening?" he asked himself.

"**So this is our l'Cie. What a big handsome boy, isn't he, sister?"**

"**I agree. But now's not the time to play with him. He had a trial to win before we can play with him"**

"What the…?" Snow looked around, but found no one else. He focused on the two strangers. "Are those voices…?"

"**Ours?" **said the dark one "**It is ours of course. We are your Eidolon. Your summon. Or we will be"**

"**We have come before you to test you and your will" **said the light one. "**To see if you are worthy of having us as your battle partners, Snow Villiers"**

"How did you know-?" Snow asked, but was cut in.

"**Your name?" **the dark one smirked. "**We know everything about you. We were assigned to be your Eidolon after all"**

"**We know of your guilt and your doubt." **the light one explained. "**The weight in your heart. How you feel about those losses in your hands. How you couldn't save your loved one. How you feel about you being useless."**

"**We came in your darkest moment, to either bring you to salvation or damnation" **Both of them spoke in unison.

Snow was recalled by Cade's words. "_In a l'Cie's darkest moment, salvation will come. But whether you live or die depends whether if you pass its trials". _This must've been what he meant. They were here to test him.

"**You will have seventeen minutes to prove to us that you are worthy of our power." **said the light one. "**I will be your opponent, while my sister will assist you in keeping you alive throughout the trial since you are alone"**

"**But remember that brute force alone won't motivate us" **The dark one added "**You will need more than punching things to satisfy us."**

"**Succeed and our power will be yours" **The light one explained.

"**Fail and you'll meet oblivion" **The dark one finished

"**And your trial begins now" **both said as one "**Doom!"**

Something hit Snow immediately as the spell was cast. It was unlike anything he had felt before. He had taken a harder beating before back in his days, but this was different. His heart seemed to stop for a second, as if it was about to fail. When he managed to recover, he could feel his life leeching away. It was as if he was losing blood, but no wound was present on him.

Seventeen minutes was the time he had to win this. These things, Eidolon as they called themselves, will surely be a challenge. He did saw them taking out a squad in mere seconds, something he alone needed about a minute or two to accomplish.

He charged in and started punching. He constantly swapped between going all out physical and casting spells.

The light one hovered the wheel above, seemingly charging up for a strong attack. Yet Snow kept on punching, not holding back. The wheel then spun down on him, damaging him massively and sent him flying sky high into the air.

The moment he landed, the dark one began to heal his wounds. "**You will have to do better than that" **she told him "**You can't just get knocked around if you wanted to save someone"**

Snow slowly got up to his feet. Clearly the two were not satisfied with that failure. Those strikes back there didn't stop the light one from attacking him with the wheel. She was charging up again, but this time, he knew that offense was a no go. He changed up his class to Sentinel and brought up Steelguard.

The wheel came down on him once again, but this time, the hits were less damaging, and he was not sent flying. When the attack ended, Snow smirked. "This might just work"

Now he realized what they wanted. They wanted a bulwark, someone who won't get knocked around that easily. Someone who can stand up against the danger, and be the shield for the others.

Someone who can keep the word of protecting others.

The light one repeated its pattern, and Snow did the same. Every attack was soaked by his Steelguard, impressing the Eidolon every time. The sisters smirked.

"**I think he got it" **The light one said "**He is worthy of our power, sister"**

"**I agree with you, sister" **the dark one nodded.

The light one then halted her attack. Suddenly, Snow felt completely rejuvenated as the Doom spell was removed from him. He collapsed down to his knees, tired from all the fighting.

"**Snow Villiers" **said the light one "**You have proven yourself to us."**

"**We are satisfied with your performance." **said the dark one "**You are not useless after all"**

"**I'm Stiria"**

"**And I'm am Nix"**

"**We are Shiva, the Twin Sisters of ice" **both of them said. Their bodies glowed and reshaped into a form of white crystal, an Eidolith. It then landed on Snow's hand before it flaked into pieces, streaming into his brand.

"**Our power is now yours" **he could hear them informing him "**Shatter the Eidolith, and we will heed your call"**

With that, Snow collapsed completely from fatigue. He was too tired to do anything. His consciousness was still there, but his vision faded into a blur.

* * *

Oerba Yun Fang was impressed. That blond l'Cie managed to stand his ground alone against his Eidolon. It wasn't everyday that one would survive their trial, let alone doing it alone. Sure, one of the Twin Sisters did help him, but even then, it was still a challenge.

"The Twin Sisters, she said, walking up to the blond.

* * *

Snow heard a voice. However, the fight with Shiva had drained him of his strength. He was still feeling fatigued all over his body.

"I gotta hand it to you for taking them down" the owner of the voice seemed to comment "But don't gloat just yet. Might come a time you wish you let them end it. It makes things easy"

He then saw a red and black scissored blade just above him. He flipped himself over and looked up. Before him was a raven haired woman in blue strange clothing, pointing a twin-bladed glaive. On her left shoulder was a tattoo of some sort of beast's skull. She looked a bit familiar, but he couldn't recall where or when.

"More of you, huh?" Snow said, but right now, he was all words. He barely had any strength to hold it at this time.

Then approached a small squad of soldiers. They were clearly PSICOM, but their outfit was different, a pattern of white and blue. To the right of the woman was a man with brown hair who had his gun on his shoulder before aiming down on Snow just like the rest.

"He's a l'Cie" said Fang "Take him"

"Back off" Snow threatened, at least he tried to.

Fang lowered her weapon and kneeled beside him. "You want to keep breathing?" she asked. She then lifted his chin. "Shut up and come quiet"

Snow shook his head off of her fingers, but before he could do anything else, the woman chopped his neck, knocking him out immediately.

* * *

After some time, a ship landed on the site. Automatons were hauling the crystallized form of a girl toward the ship, now that it was dug up with proper tools. A pair of soldiers were picking up Snow when he woke up to see Serah getting hauled away not by him.

"Serah…" he gasped. "Serah!" He tried to break free, but he was still too weak right now.

"Shut it!" A soldier walked up and pointed his gun at him. Other few followed suit.

Fang walked in, pushing the closest gun away from Snow. "Stand down" she ordered, and then pointed to her left, telling the carrying pair to haul this guy to the ship.

As Snow was carried away, he noticed something on her right arm. He instantly recognized it. It was a Pulse l'Cie brand, and it was like the one Cade had: white, and more developed.

"You too?" he said. "You had one just like him... Why are you helping them?"

"If I were you, I would worry about myself" Fang curtly replied. However, she also realized that this man had met Cade. At least that was good news. That guy was still kicking. Perhaps he had already found Vanille.

But she cannot rest just yet. Not until she reunites with Vanille at least.

She turned to look in the distance. "You better still be alive, Cade" she whispered, before walking to the ship.

* * *

**And here's a new chapter. Sorry for the long delay, but things had been difficult for me in the past few weeks.**

**As you might have noticed, the title of this story has changed. The previous one sounded a bit stale, and I have been thinking a lot of what title to use instead.**

**Funny enough, I managed to complete the writing on Shiva fight long before the Garuda fight.**

**Now, as the story progresses, I began to think about the OC's main classes (the three classes that each characters specialized first). Here's what I chose**

**Cade: Commando, Ravager, Sabotage. This combination would've meant that Cade is a purely offensive character with no defensive abilities.**

**Ariel: Commando, Medic, Synergist. A support character that can buff, heal, and keep the stagger meter going, but lack the means to increase it.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoy.**

**Namthunder, signing out.**


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